The artist behind a popular town centre mural has responded after it was defaced with several highly offensive slogans.
The anonymous creative ‘Hendog’ claimed responsibility for ‘The Haribo Proposal’, a piece of graffiti art which was discovered on the north abutment of the New American Bridge in late November last year.
The impressive mural depicts a young schoolboy proposing to a schoolgirl with a Haribo ring and it can be seen when travelling along the canal towpath from Northbrook Street to Victoria Park.
Since its discovery, it has become a popular local landmark, with several townsfolk stopping to take pictures of the image when walking along the canal.
However, over the weekend the artwork was defaced by another graffiti user who refers to themselves as the ‘Hangman’.
A rudimentary hanging stick man now covers the schoolgirl and the rest of the piece was dominated by a Hangman tag before it was painted over by council workers on Monday lunchtime.
A penis was also painted on the schoolboy which has also since been removed.
More worryingly though, the defacement was accompanied by several racist, homophobic and misogynistic phrases and expletive words that were sprayed with black paint on the brick wall next to the bridge.
Hendog stated he was outraged by the offensive phrases that he felt were obviously deeply concerning.
He said: “People like this seek attention and we’re all buying into it.
“Acts like this don’t deserve recognition, energy or time and goes against everything that street art should be about.”
Despite the vandalism, Hendog has said previously that he was grateful to discover the positive reception The Haribo Proposal has received in Newbury.
“It is for people,” he said last November. “I try to make my art accessible for everybody and I guess that’s the whole point of the culture of street art.”
West Berkshire Council was responsible for removing the offensive graffiti.
A council spokesperson said: “We take incidents like this very seriously as no one should have to experience or be subjected to such hateful language in our community.
“Thanks to members of the public who raised this issue and reported it to us, our team acted swiftly to remove it the very next day.”
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