Banksy's latest creation has been vandalised, less than two days after it appeared in Bristol.
Residents of Barton Hill spotted the street art on Thursday morning, stencilled on the side of a rental home.
It showed a girl firing off a slingshot filled with red flowers, taken to be an ironic Valentine's Day-themed piece.
Banksy's official Instagram account posted two photos of the art and it also appeared on his website, confirming it as an authentic work by the mysterious artist.
By Friday morning, the piece had acquired a new addition: bright pink lettering reading "BCC w**kers", scrawled across the image of the girl. A hastily-drawn heart shape had also been added.
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"Well that didn't take long," one Twitter user observed.
BCC could stand for Bristol City Council.
A local resident who spotted the vandalism told PA news agency: "It's a real shame, but it was always going to happen, unfortunately."
Kelly Woodruff, the daughter of Edwin Simons, who owns the home on which the artwork appeared, had expressed concern that the rain from Storm Dennis might damage it.
While many Brits are upset that the art had been ruined, others pointed out that technically, Banksy himself is a vandal.
Banksy's last piece was also defaced within hours of its creation.
A Christmas mural appeared in Birmingham showing reindeer pulling a nearby park bench, which was meant to raise awareness of the city's homelessness problem.
A crowd of admirers gathered to look at it the day it showed up, until a young man in a hoodie asked them "Shall I tag it?".
He reportedly then pulled out a spray can, leaped over a barrier that had been erected in front of the wall and sprayed red noses on each of the reindeer.
Banksy has said before that he doesn't mind his work being vandalised, as that's what tends to happen to all street art.
- Banksy
- Christmas
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