Witham Memorial Mural Damaged

The mural on the River Walk Gauging Station buildings at the weir has been damaged by graffiti twice during the Easter holidays.

Witham Town Council's Operations Team have successfully removed some of the graffiti, however there remains significant damage on the rear of the building, which shows a soldier standing in a field of poppies, and so Witham Town Council have approached the original artist to recover the damage.

The buildings are painted on all four sides depicting various images of poppies and soldiers to pay tribute to those who fell in the First World War. The mural was created in 2015 by spray can artist Scott Irving of Brave Arts and pupils of New Rickstones Academy.

Town council leader Cllr Phil Barlow said 'It's always disappointing that such mindless vandalism takes place anywhere, but this has been a significant piece of artwork on the River Walk for some time. It's also sad to think that someone local would want to deface a remembrance memorial as it costs all of us in undertaking repairs'

Once it has been repaired Witham Town Council will look at further ways to protect the mural, including the possibility of extending it's CCTV network to include camera in the area. But the repair and any further steps to protect the artwork will come at a cost.

Anyone with any information on the vandalism is urged to contact Essex Police quoting crime reference 42/52960/24