PORTISHEAD: A mural in the style of street artist Banksy on Travis Perkins Portishead depot has been defaced by vandals less than a week after it first appeared.
The artwork, an image of a boy holding a bomb, appeared on the wall over the weekend of May 7 but has been covered with blue spray paint, reports Portishead People.
Travis Perkins branch manager, Matthew Turner, said: "I had a call on Sunday saying that the artwork had been sprayed over with blue paint.
"Initially we had planned to keep it on the wall but now it's likely we will have to remove it as we cannot allow it to stay now it has been ruined and had those words sprayed alongside it.
"It is a real shame as it was a nice piece of artwork and we had intended to keep it," he said.
The piece of art had become a talking point in the town, with some people visiting the site to take a closer look.
Banksy began work as a graffiti artist in Bristol in the early 1990s, but has become a household name in the last decade – grossing millions from his work.
The artist, who has always kept his identity a closely guarded secret, was nominated for an Oscar in 2010 for his film Exit Through the Gift Shop, but failed to turn up to the glittering ceremony.
He already has a permanent piece of art on Cheltenham Road in Stokes Croft – with a wall mural of a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at police – called Mild, Mild West.
