A tagger vandalising a newly painted community mural was caught on camera as he was confronted by an angry resident.
The man was one of two vandals who sprayed over the mural on the Upper Lewes Road, which had only been finished last month by a collective of artists.
The pair falsely told people who confronted them they had been given permission to paint over it – but when one woman started filming them, they quickly left.
Artist Sandy Moon, who helped organise the mural, said she was furious.
She said: “Two grown men were putting their big tags up on it. They lied and said they were making it pretty and they had permission.
“They got chased off and word went out to the community and came and helped. People came out and we spent eight hours on Sunday scrubbing it all off.”
The idea for the mural came after Sandy painted some tree trunks to blend in with the ivy.
When a neighbour painted over her work with blocks of white paint, Brighton and Hove City Council got in touch to ask her if she would be interested in creating a more permanent work.
She worked with the Roundhill Society and other artists, and was intending to put the finishing touches on the mural this weekend.
A police spokesman confirmed Sussex Police was called out, but no arrests were made.
That bloke on the right looks like Ian Beale. Case solved.
Grow up, fellas. No one is impressed by your tags.
I hope this young man is not discouraged from his art. Art is a great form of mindfulness. Hopefully with Boris gone Labour or greens will get in and put more money towards art
The heartening thing is that within 24 hours the community has raised £600 for repair painting and anti-grafitti coating.
It all looks vile anyway. Whether it’s tagging or a ‘mural’
Good work for chasing off these scabby taggers… I don’t get why they think it’s art, it’s not. Brazen act in the middle of the day too.
Kevin and Perry continue to go large!
I preferred the original wall white. How come she thinks her painting tree trunks on the wall was okay, but his self-expression isn’t? Double standards. Both are naff.
Anti-graffiti paint doesn’t sound very eco-friendly… just white-wash it..
Good to see the Argus trolls have popped in to say hello while their usual home is down.