Brighton: Tenth Shaun the Sheep vandalised out of 42

Shaun Le Sheep near the Royal Pavilion in Brighton is understood to have been targeted over the weekend.

It is the tenth sheep to be vandalised out of the art trail’s 42 sculptures.

Martlets Hospice, the charity which is raising money with the art trail, slammed the vandalism and asked people not to climb on the sculptures.

Shaun Le Sheep, which is in Malborough Place, was designed by Sara Pope and sponsored by Plus Accounting.

Fatboy Slim and artist Sara Pope looking at the sculpture last month (Image: The Argus)

Sussex Police said the vandalism of the sculptures “will not be tolerated”.

It comes after a police-themed Shaun called WPC Gracie had the message “ACAB” scrawled on it.

The acronym is an anti-police slur which stands for “all cops are b*******”.

Tanya Hunt, director of income generation at Martlets, told BBC Radio Sussex this morning: “It’s a bit devastating to see this damage happening to the Shauns. We have a duty of care to put every penny we can to our patients for end-of-life care.

“We have had some deliberate graffiti as well unfortunately. That all takes time and money to clean.

“I would really like everyone to help save our sheep. I like to think people are not deliberately harming our sheep, our beautiful pieces of artwork around the city to support Martlets Hospice.

“I really hope people are just getting a bit carried away, a bit enthusiastic. They’re perhaps wanting to take selfies with the sheep and climbing aboard to get the picture they want.

“That weakens the structure of our statues, they’re not designed to be climbed on. If that happens time and time again, I think they can come off their plinth. I like to think nothing malicious is going on.

“I want to encourage everyone not to climb on the sheep.”

The art trail ends on November 5 where an auction will be held for all of the Shauns.