My Dog Sighs mural at Hilsea Lido is painted over with graffiti tag as suspect seen fleeing with paint roller
A mural by Southsea artist My Dog Sighs was painted over on Sunday morning by a suspect holding a paint roller.
Officers were called out at 6.59am to reports of criminal damage at the Hilsea Lido where the mural was being painted over with graffiti.
The artwork, which replaced a previous mural by My Dog Sighs and city artist Fark from five years ago that had faded, features a watery blue background and two eyes with reflections of a person getting out of the pool. Now one of the eyes has been covered over by the tag DMOE.
Police said a white man in his mid to late 20s wearing a hoodie, tracksuit bottoms and carrying a paint roller was seen in the area at the time.
Facebook group Run-Walk-Local-Portsmouth, posted a picture of the damage on its page, with the message: ‘Some moron decided it was a good idea to deface this beautiful piece of art. We are fuming.’
My Dog Sighs painted one of the walls of the Hilsea Lido in a bid to bring cheer in the pandemic last August.
The wall is of the recently-built sea defences, put up by contractor Knights Brown, protecting the north of the city.
Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting 44210334719.