UPDATED: 'Utterly reprehensible': Reaction to the David Bowie statue vandalism in Aylesbury

The statue of David Bowie under the arches in Aylesbury's Market Square has been vandalised.
The David Bowie statue has been vandalised less than 48 hours after its unveilingThe David Bowie statue has been vandalised less than 48 hours after its unveiling
The David Bowie statue has been vandalised less than 48 hours after its unveiling

The bronze discs have been sprayed with paint and the message RIP DB: Feed The Homeless has been written next to it.

The incident happened sometime between 5.45pm on Monday and 7.30am this morning.

Local politicians have been giving their reactions on Twitter this morning.

Bucks County Council leader Martin Tett said: “This is utterly reprehensible.

“This was a crowdfunded statue not public authority money.

“Those responsible are a disgrace to Aylesbury and Buckinghamshire.”

Deputy mayor Mark Willis added: “Although I do not disagree with the statement written in graffiti I do want to point out that this statue received no public money.

“It was entirely funded by crowd funding and members of the public, myself included.

“One of the charities that I support monthly is Shelter as homelessness and poverty are an absolute scourge on society that need solving.

“If the statue had not been built would that money have gone into helping the poor and needy - of course not.

“I just hope the perpetrators were caught on webcam.”

Meanwhile, David Stopps, the man behind the statue told the Herald: “We got a call at 7am to say that it’s been vandalised - it’s just graffiti which we can deal with - we’ve been clearing it up all morning.

“We just have to keep hammering home that no council tax payers money was used for this statue, or public money in general.

“CCTV is on site 24/7 so we should get a clear image of whoever did it - there’s always one person who has to try and make a point.

“I always say that there’s an upside in everything - and in this case it has been people walking by and speaking us, telling us that they didn’t support the statue but are upset that someone has done this.

“In a way it’s won people round.

“It will be back to it’s pristine condition by tomorrow (Wednesday) and I hope that everyone will come and see it because the pictures just don’t do it justice.

“I think people in Aylesbury are great - and we saw that so much on Sunday - but there will always be someone that spoils it with something like this.”