A temporary cover has been put over a Banksy-esque artwork to protect it – just shortly after it was defaced.
The artwork, featuring a young girl hula-hooping a bicycle tyre, appear in Nottingham on Thursday, October 15.
Nottingham City Council put a protective cover over the artwork on Thursday afternoon.
It had been hoped that the famed graffiti artist had produced the work, but Tom Godfreyy, the curator of the Bonington Gallery at Nottingham Trent University, has strong doubts, reports Nottingham Live.
A Nottingham City Council spokesman said: "The emergence of this artwork overnight has attracted understandable interest and excitement in Nottingham.
"However, it’s difficult for us to say much more until we know whether this is a genuine Banksy or not. In the meantime, we’ve spoken to the property owner about protecting the artwork and have installed a temporary cover this afternoon.
“While it’s clearly a source of great interest, we have to remind everyone that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic with very high Covid cases in Nottingham. We would urge people not to congregate here and remember that social distancing rules still apply to protect ourselves and others.”
However, images taken by Nottinghamshire Live show the covering was then vandalised.
An onlooker who witnessed the act but wished to remain anonymous said: "His words when he did it were, 'you think this is a joke. I’ve got mates in prison for this'".
