A stunning mural celebrating one of Newport' s most diverse areas has been vandalised just weeks after it was painted. The mural on Temple Street, just off Commercial Road in Pillgwenlly, was finished in July and depicts scenes from Pill Carnival, flags marking the diversity of the area and a portrait of one of Pill's longest-serving police officers.
At the time local artist Andy O'Rourke, who is behind a number of impressive street murals in Newport, told WalesOnline how positively locals had welcomed the work, which he called "a slice of their own community" ahead of the upcoming Pill Carnival on August 29.
But just weeks after being completed the work appears to have been defaced, with a resident posting a picture over the weekend showing white paint across most of the stunning piece.
Read more: The hidden lane in Cardiff full of beautiful street art
Speaking to WalesOnline Mr O'Rourke said "99% of people in Pill" had welcomed the work and called the damage an "insult" to the community.
"I've not been down there yet [to see it] but I saw it online yesterday morning," he said. "To be honest, I can't face it. It's obviously massively disappointing. Generally a mural might get a bit of damage, or something scrawled on part of it. But this is such a bitter, petty attack. It's right the way through it."
Mr O'Rourke said it was difficult to know why the work, which depicts 15-year-old Pill resident Alexis Cuthbert, this year's Pill Carnival Queen who will lead this month's parade, had been targeted. "It could be something against the mural itself, or anti-multicultural. It's celebrating PC Val from Gwent Police who is well-known in Pill, so it could be because it was police-sponsored as well. It's hard to know."
Mr O'Rourke said it was the second time the mural had been damaged after malicious writing was scrawled on it while it was still being painted last month.
"That only took about half an hour to fix even though it was bigger," he said, adding that the mural had been covered with a protective glaze which meant vandalism can be cleaned off more easily without damaging the art. But he said he wasn't sure how extensive the damage was or how much restoration work might be needed.
"If it can be cleaned then brilliant. Generally the council's anti-graffiti team has the kit to clean these things, so hopefully they will be able to jet off the paint and then the glaze can be reapplied. I can't go back and repair it every few weeks either. The face [on the mural] is the hardest bit to do. I'm not sure if I paint over the glaze in the future if it will then wash off. So there are a bunch of unknowns.
"It's an insult to the people of Pill and now every day someone sees that, they will think 'why can't we have nice things?' For someone to go out late at night and vindictively attack something 99% of people in Pill love, it's terrible."
Gwent Police have been contacted for comment.
READ NEXT:
-
Exactly what the newest residents of Wales' fastest-growing city think of their new life here
-
Woman orders pizza online and later receives creepy texts asking 'Do you live alone?'
-
'I grew up in a Chinese takeaway. Racism was part and parcel of life'
-
Mum and unborn baby die as partner and two-year-old son left heartbroken
-
The man from a Welsh council estate now worth £400m thanks to an idea he had on his walk home
