Suspected militant vegans vandalised a cheese shop spraying "dairy=death" in blood red paint on the shopfront.
The owner of the delicatessen, struggling to survive during coronavirus lockdown, said that she believed the animal rights graffiti was an act of demonstration by hard-line vegan activists.
Michaela Myers, who owns Barney's Delicatessen in Kensington Gardens, Brighton, East Sussex said she was devastated to discover her shop had been targeted again.
"This is the second time our shop has been hit by militant vegans, whose ignorance never ceases to amaze me. A year ago we found the words 'Mmm cancer' sprayed on the floor just outside the shop," said the 52-year-old.
"We'd only just opened and they were already targeting us."
Ms Myers said that she sympathised with people's concerns about animal welfare but explained the decision to target the cheese shop would cost a small fortune to remove at a time when the business was struggling to keep afloat during the national lockdown.
"The emotional impact alone has been horrible," she said.
I've got that knotted, twisting feeling inside - my stomach's still churning.
"It's really upsetting that people feel the need to do something like this. We're just trying to make a living, help the community and get through this difficult time."
Local media approached a Brighton animal rights collective advocate who defended the act, saying: "What is more extreme, killing an animal or spraying paint?"
In a statement, the anonymous organisation said: "Although the act of graffiti is vandalism, we support the message of animal liberation relayed in it.
"The same system that classes graffiti as vandalism allows the exploitation and killing of individuals and therefore we must challenge this institution.
"This is also a human rights issue. Slaughterhouse workers are being forced to work during the pandemic and thereby being put at a disproportionately high risk of catching the virus."
