Detectives are hunting for a vandal who daubed white paint over a mural by elusive street artist Banksy just a week after it first appeared.
The artwork showing a rodent sipping a cocktail in a deckchair was covered in white paint in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Security guards interrupted the vandal as they defaced the image on a sea wall in Lowestoft, Suffolk but the person managed to escape.
Police now want to speak to anyone who was in the area in the time as they attempt to track down the suspect.
The vandal struck hours after Banksy confirmed that the mural, along with ten other pieces along the East Anglian coastline, were all his work.
Banksy’s artwork first roused interest when it appeared last week and the artist announced on Friday that he was behind the street art.
A statement from Suffolk Police read: “Police are appealing for witnesses to an incident of criminal damage in Lowestoft.
“It took place at some point between 5.35pm on Saturday 14 and Sunday August 15 at just after midnight where a street mural painted by ‘Banksy’ was painted over with white paint.
“Police are keen to speak to anyone who visited the artwork after 5.30pm on the Saturday to help police with their investigation and to see if they could assist officers in their efforts to establish a more accurate time of when the offence took place.”
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