The battered Ford Sierra looked no different to dozens of other abandoned cars in Brighton and Hove.

Residents bombarded police with calls calling for the vehicle to be removed after it was left in Victoria Gardens, Brighton on Wednesday. But they were stunned when they found out the car was not a wreck - it was a work of art.

It had been left there by Ella Bissett Johnson, a student at the University of Brighton. Ella called the work Escaping Flatlands: A multi-dimensional fairytale, and said it aimed to explore divide between myth and reality in the public image of Princess Diana.

But the artistic intent failed to impress vandals, who damaged the car even further by attacking it on Wednesday night. Yesterday afternoon one of Brighton's shortest-lived art exhibits was finally towed away by council staff after it was revealed permission had not been granted in the first place.

Ella, 20, in her second year of a critical fine art degree, explained her work by saying: "There were a lot of differences between the real Diana and the imaginary image of her created by people after her death. The car symbolises this.

"Her death was so sudden and people's reaction to it was so odd, they really saw it as a huge blow, and I was affected by it too. I wanted to examine why Diana's death was so important. It seemed like the real Diana was killed in the crash and the fantasy one was born. The car is also a study of time and the vandalism interests me because it has changed the sculpture irrevocably."

Ella is one of 30 young artists exhibiting a wide range of contemporary art ranging from performance, video and photography to sculpture and installation, in a show called Intercourse at the university gallery in Grand Parade.

But anybody hoping to see her car will have to make the journey to the council pound in Kemp Town, where it now resides. A spokesman from Brighton and Hove Council said: "As far as we are aware, no formal permission was secured by any student to put the car in Victoria Gardens. It has been removed and taken to a pound where all abandoned cars are taken if found illegally parked.

"Theoretically she could get the car back. The normal charge is £30, but this is discretionary and sometimes is waived altogether. If she got formal permission in writing we might consider allowing the car to be put back in the gardens, as long as it was for a short period. We like students to express themselves."

Senior Lecturer of Critical Fine Art Practice, Mick Hartney, said: "We wanted to get permission to put the car in the gardens, but the exhibition started before this happened."

Fellow student Sam Levack, 21, said: "It's a controversial piece, but I think it's a bit unfair towing it away as it was only going to be there for a few days. It wasn't doing anyone any harm."

Ella's artwork was towed away by Andrew Lee, of Lee Hire, Church Place, Kemp Town, which specialises in retrieving abandoned and damaged vehicles. He said: "If this is art then I have a gallery worth millions here."

What do you think of Ella's sculpture? Write to Argus Letters, Argus House, Crowhurst Road, Hollinbury, Brighton BN1 8AR or e-mail letters@argus-btn.co.uk

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