SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Artists are intending to file a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida after their work was scrubbed from Sarasota streets and sidewalks.

In June, the Florida Department of Transportation issued an order declaring "all traffic control devices, including pavement surface markings, be compliant with the FDOT Design Manual and the Manual of Uniform Minimum Standards for Design, Construction and Maintenance for Streets and Highways."

Under that order, street art, including crosswalk art on Main Street, the intersection of Pineapple and Cocoanut avenues, and sidewalk art on Orange and Pineapple avenues, were deemed noncompliant.

In late August, as the City of Sarasota destroyed nearly 300 sidewalk murals in the Historic Burns Court neighborhood, Rosen said she quickly realized that the destruction constituted a federal crime under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990.

The facts of the case closely followed those of another suit, called the 5Pointz Case, in which 21 artists were awarded $6.75 million. After three months of studying the law, gathering evidence, contacting attorneys and reaching out to artists, the group began to grow.

According to a news release, the artists are seeing justice against what they call government overreach. They say that Sarasota relies on cultural identity and what draws tourists in are attractions like the Ringling, theatres, art museums and the Sarasota Opera House.

"No federal or state government should erase public art, history, or nullify the culture of a town," the news release said.

"Today, without our sidewalk murals, the sidewalks are painted dull gray, the stories are silenced, and the heroes of our past aren't celebrated. That shouldn't happen to any other town.