A mural honouring England trio Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka has been defaced with a racist message.
The Darlington mural was painted following last Sunday's Euro 2020 Final, which saw the three subjected to racist abuse for missing penalties against Italy.
The red and white design shows the three players' shirt numbers - 25, 17 and 11 - but was defaced with the words "we do not stand with the 3 Black Lions".
The local Stand Up To Racism group tweeted on Saturday: "Overnight a cowardly racist has decided to spread hate. We condemn this racism and we stand in solidarity with the Arthur Wharton Foundation
"We are the majority and cowardly racists are not welcome."
Yesterday Darlington #TakeTheKnee at the Arthur Wharton Mural
— Stand Up To Racism - North East (@SUTR_NE) July 17, 2021
Overnight a cowardly racist has decided to spread hate. We condemn this racism and we stand in solidarity with the Arthur Wharton Foundation
We are the majority and cowardly racists are not welcome
More TBA #BLM pic.twitter.com/Z9MNZtc4fG
A spokeswoman for Durham Constabulary said: "Officers are investigating following reports of damage to the Arthur Wharton mural, in Darlington... enquiries are ongoing."
The racist message was quickly painted over on Saturday.
The damage comes less than a week after an existing mural of Rashford was defaced in Manchester, just hours after the penalty shootout defeat.
Members of the public reacted by covering up the graffiti with tributes to Rashford and his England team-mates.
