An iconic seated sculpture in the Leith neighbourhood of Edinburgh was vandalised, after the perpetrator felt like he looked too 'miserable' to begin with.
A local Facebook community page, Friends of the Water of Leith Basin (FOWL.b), posted the photos with the caption: "A spray painter was spotted this morning vandalising the seated sculpture on the North Shore.
"He said the sculpture looks miserable and he tries to make him look happy by adding paint.
"The police have been alerted.
"They’ll be working with the CEC on this and will also arrange with them to have the paint cleaned off."
One comment responded, saying: "Time this vandal was given the task of clearing up his own mess."
READ MORE - Pregnant local mum says horror fire brought back traumatic childhood memories
Another said: "He's quite smile anyways so I don't know what he's on about!"
Further comments read: "Why?? Just why??", and "This is becoming ridiculous…".
The photos show an excessive amount of white spray paint on the top half of the statue, with a strange grimace etched onto its face to depict a smile.
The eyes have been whitened out, giving it a scarier look, and the white paint runs down the whole front of the sculpture, almost in a snow-like fashion.
The statue is a depiction of Sandy Irvine Robertson OBE, who was renowned for being a wine merchant, charity promoter, and founder of the Scottish Business Acheivements Awards Trust.
After his premature death in 1999, his friends commissioned a bronze statue on the waterfront at Leith, which was sculpted by Lucy Poett.
The sculpture has remained untouched by vandals for a long period of time, but today one individual was caught red-handed.
The vandal has also painted the shirt and tie in white, so the statue stands out even further on the waterfront of Leith.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 9.20 am this morning, Thursday, 27 January, 2022, police received a report of a vandalism to a statue on North Shore, Leith.
"Enquiries are continuing."
