Gloucester community brick project vandalised with graffiti

A mural made of 1,500 bricks individually hand-painted by members of the community has been vandalised with political graffiti.

The Gloucester Brick Project on Westgate Street has involved hundreds of people, creating their own artwork.

Around 06:00 BST on Wednesday, an unknown person defaced the mural with the message: “Vote Reform UK and this all goes away”.

Organisers say they are still hoping to unveil the mural on Friday as originally planned, and have encouraged people to come and restore their vandalised bricks.

In an official statement, the organisation said they were “overwhelmed with support” from the local community.

However, they said they struggled to understand the motives behind the vandalism.

“If the person or people behind this message had wanted to paint their own brick, communicating their views, they would have been welcome to, as the whole point of the project is to celebrate the community as a whole.

“Sadly what they have done is prioritise their voice over everyone else’s.”

The organisers said anyone who wishes to restore their vandalised brick is welcome to, otherwise they will try to do the restoration themselves.

They have documented every brick painted, which they plan to use for reference.

“In the past, none of our projects have been vandalised, said Brick Project Director Fraisia Papazian.

“These projects have taken place in all kinds of different communities and this is the first time it’s happened. I just want to highlight that it very much looks like the work of one person.”

Dan Petley, director of the project, said the team have spent 15 days working on the project, with many putting in 14-hour days.

They are now trying to repaint the bricks as accurately as they can from photographs of the wall.

“The most important thing now is for people to come down and paint new bricks,” said Mr Petley, encouraging people to support the project.