A graffiti artist has claimed it was him who added his mark to a Banksy mural, adding it was done as part of a homeless protest.
The two flying black and white reindeer were painted next to a bench in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter last weekend.
The Bristol-born artist released a video on his Instagram page showing a homeless man called 'Ryan' lying on the now iconic bench next to the mural.
Then, on Monday night, it emerged that the work had been defaced by someone spraying red noses on the reindeers.
Graffiti artist 'Hers' has since contacted Bristol Live's sister website BirminghamLive claiming he added the red noses to the wall.
The 25-year-old, from Birmingham, said he is a huge fan of Banksy and only spray painted the noses red as 'a subtle change.'
"I am a huge fan of Banksy as I am also a graffiti artist and follow him on Instagram," he said.
"When I saw the video I went straight over to take a look.
"What annoyed me was the fact that the mural was all about homelessness but then lots of money was being spent on guarding the mural. Why not spend that money helping homeless people?
"It annoyed me so I went and got a tin of red spray paint. I had a picture taken on the bench and then I went and sprayed the reindeer's noses red."
He added: "There was a lot of people having a go so I walked off. I don't regret doing it. I have quite enjoyed the debate which has been taking place since i did it. I just hope people will start concentrating more on the homeless issue now rather than who painted the reindeer noses red."
Workmen have since been using perspex sheeting to protect the Banksy artwork from further vandalism. People have been taking to Twitter to react to the vandalism.
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