Graffiti vandals have defaced one of Birmingham’s iconic metal bridges just days after it received a makeover as part of a £130,000 project to restore these well-known waterway landmarks.
Rotton Park Junction Bridge, which is on the Icknield Port Loop in Smethwick, is one of three metal bridges currently being repaired and cleaned by the Canal & River Trust, thanks to kind donations from members of the public.
The bridges are being scrubbed clean, the brick work repointed and the old graffiti removed. Sadly some local troublemakers have seen the bridge as a blank canvas and decided to ‘decorate’ it with spray paint, defacing the 200-year-old brickwork and needlessly vandalising an important part of the area’s heritage.
Lawrence Tall, from the Canal & River Trust, said: “This is so disappointing and really sad that after all our hard efforts to remove the old graffiti, new scribbles and tags have reappeared literally days after we cleaned it and made it look lovely.
“The graffiti really isn’t the welcome to Birmingham that boaters and visitors want to see when out on the canal and I’m sure local people are equally as frustrated as we are that the bridges have yet again been vandalised.”
If anyone has any information about this please contact the Canal & River Trust on 03030 404040
