An Oor Wullie statue in Dundee has been defaced by vandals two days after it was officially unveiled.

Oor Roots Up, designed by Joanne McFadyen, had black paint thrown over it on Wednesday. It has since been cleaned up.

It is one of the 50 life-sized statues that sprung up in the city on Monday as part of the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail.

Members of the public have been seeking out the Oor Wullies, which are all sponsored.

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The statues will then be auctioned off for charity to help fund a new twin operating theatre paediatric surgical suite at Ninewells Hospital.

Neil Cooney, of the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail, said: “It’s disappointing that this has happened, especially so soon.

“We are just a small, charitable event doing this for free for Dundee and the people of Dundee.

“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of people saying such good things about them which massively outweighs what one idiot has done.”

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The damage was spotted by the Friends of Magdalen Green, which reported the incident to the council.

Mr Cooney said the black paint has been removed but the cleaning has removed some of the original paint. He is hopeful it can be fully restored.

He said: “Fortunately Joanne is a local artist and we are confident it can be repaired.

“These things are ultimately going to be auctioned off for charity for possibly thousands of pounds so they have to be perfect.”

Stuart Milne commented on social media: “Some people spend all their time making nice things and other people come along and break them.”