A charity sheep sculpture dressed as a police officer which has twice been vandalised is being moved inside a shop.
WPC Gracie, designed by Judith Berrill and sponsored by crime writer Peter James, originally stood outside the bandstand on Brighton seafront.
She is one of 42 sculptures on the Martlets Hospice Shaun by the Sea art trail around Brighton and Hove, featuring decorated sculptures of Shaun the Sheep.
But after two bouts of vandalism – the latest of which involved ACAB, or All Cops Are B******ds being scrawled on her face, she is being moved to a more secure location in the window of the charity’s London Road shop.
Charlotte Brown, Shop Manager at Martlets London Road said: “We are delighted to welcome dedicated police officer WPC Gracie to her new beat – within our shop!
“Visitors will be able to grab their selfies with her 7 days a week, and bag some bargains while they visit her too.
“We’re delighted that our baa-rilliant community have been so supportive of our trail since it launched. If you would like to Help Martlets Keep Caring, you can support us at shaunbythesea.co.uk/donate or make a donation in store.”
Martlets’ Roving Shaun will also be on display at other charity shops throughout the trail, including Martlets Woodingdean until 27 September and a small Shaun sculpture in Martlets Church Street until 25 September where they will move on to Blatchington Road and Western Road respectively.
The full timetable is available on the Shaun by the Sea website at https://www.shaunbythesea.co.uk/roving-shaun.
Honestly, vandals are pathetic.
What on earth did they expect?
They’re left put in the open, some in deserted places! They can’t be guarded for 30 mins let alone all day!
Everything gets vandalised or spray painted in Brighton. That’s the world we live in unfortunately.
It was ot a matter of time before some halfwit did it!
Its such a shame that a small minority have to damage something that is benefiting a worthy cause,I only hope that one such individuals will not need to call on the martlets for help one day,and their actions also spoil something enjoyable for everyone.