The street art, which appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter over the weekend, was vandalised on Monday

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Banksy’s newest reindeer mural appears to have been vandalised days after it appeared in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. The vandal added red noses to the reindeer on Monday night.

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The mural, as depicted on Banksy’s Instagram account, shows two reindeer pulling a homeless man on a bench. It was painted by the enigmatic street artist over the weekend.

Banksy’s video shows the homeless person, Ryan, having a drink before lying down on the bench as the camera pans out. The artist added the comment: “God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter – without him ever asking for anything.”

A commuter who happened to pass by on her way to work on Friday morning claims she saw a man setting up close to the wall.

She said: “It was around 7 o’clock on Friday morning when I got off the bus and saw a man giving a few snacks to a homeless man who was sitting on the bench. I wouldn’t have thought it was Banksy, I just thought it was someone helping out the homeless.”

I Am Birmingham (@IAmBirmingham) Apparently, someone's already painted bright red noses onto the reindeer in #Banksy's latest street art in #Birmingham. Gosh, that didn't take long... 😳 pic.twitter.com/ftmqLSXIwi

Martin Clarke, a jeweller at Vault 88, claims to have seen two workmen early on Friday morning working on the wall which is directly outside his shop. “I saw a small tent with a couple of lads in high-vis vests early in the morning on Friday. I thought they were from the council and were just doing a bit of upkeep. About half six I looked out the window and the tent had gone as had the lads. Then I saw it.

“I thought it was great. We weren’t sure what it was at first or who did it but we had a good idea.”