Jessica Ennis gold postbox in Sheffield vandalised Published duration 8 August 2012

image caption A Royal Mail employee applied a new layer of gold paint to the postbox

A postbox that was painted gold in Jessica Ennis's home city of Sheffield, to celebrate her Olympic triumph, has been vandalised.

The graffiti, which read "Go Jess", was scrawled on the postbox in Barkers Pool in the city centre.

A new layer of gold has been applied by Royal Mail, a Sheffield City Council spokeswoman said.

Ennis received the honour for winning the gold medal in heptathlon at the London Games.

One person who saw the graffiti said: "It's disgusting. It's a shame. I have a lot of respect for Jessica Ennis and what she's done for Sheffield."

A Royal Mail spokesman said it was "extremely disappointed" about the vandalism.

'Thoroughly ashamed'

"We have teams around the UK which look after and maintain our 115,000 post boxes and we have already repaired the damage to this box," he added.

Leader of Sheffield City Council Julie Dore said: "We are all so proud of Jess and her fantastic success, which is not only a great achievement for her and her team but also is a huge achievement for the city.

"This is our moment to shine so what a shame it is that someone has chosen to tarnish this by vandalising a postbox painted gold in honour of our local hero.