Artist restores Camborne mural daubed with graffiti tags

A vandalised mural featuring three rugby players from a Cornish town has been restored by the artist.

The mural in Camborne town centre was daubed with name tags within hours of it being completed.

Cosmic, the mural’s artist, said he restored the artwork which is on the shutters of an empty shop, in 25 minutes.

Devon and Cornwall Police said a 17-year-old Camborne boy had been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and had been released on bail.

The artwork features brothers Joel, Josh and Sam Matavesi, who have all played rugby locally.

“Because I’d just finished it I was a bit annoyed for a minute,” said Cosmic.

“But when I am annoyed I always look for what’s in this, what am I missing?

“At the end of the day it’s painting on walls, that’s what we should be doing, we were doing it a long time before we had any devices.”

The tags have been left on the side of the mural in the hope that the main image will not be defaced again.

It is one of 15 murals across Camborne, funded through the government’s Town Deal funding to improve town centres.

Other works in the town tell the story of the area with tributes to its mining heritage and a reference to Richard Trevithick’s steam engine Puffing Devil, which travelled up Camborne Hill in 1801.

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