Vandals daub paint across Tipton horse artwork
A landmark public artwork in Tipton has had to be repainted after being daubed with graffiti for the second time.
The black steel horse near Tipton railway station, one of 12 which span the line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, was cleaned up yesterday after being vandalised for the second time in two years.
The graffiti appeared to show support for a far right political group, with the St George's flag painted on the side of the horse along with the letters BNP in red – the initials of the British National Party. It mirrors vandalism of the same piece in 2009.
After a train passenger reported the vandalism yesterday it was cleaned up by Sandwell Council contractors Serco within an hour of the phone call being made.
Twitter user and commuter @Benjionthetrain tweeted: "I got fed up of seeing it every day and no one doing anything about it. Easy to report." He added that kind of graffiti doesn't 'chime with the diverse and welcoming West Midlands region'.
Councillor Derek Rowley said whenever that kind of graffiti is reported it would be cleaned up as soon as possible.
He said: "Those horses are quite prominent for people travelling by rail, and it's not the sort of thing we want to see in Sandwell full stop. It's not the image we want to portray."
The 12 life-size metal horses were unveiled in 1986 to give passengers a sense of 'frozen' animals galloping , as well as a reminder of the animals being an earlier form of transport.
The £10,000 project, the area's first example of track art, was paid for by West Midlands Arts, the now defunct British Rail and the former West Midlands County Council.They were made by craftsmen at Corley Welding of New Canal Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, in collaboration with a London-based artist.
Six of the horses, which weigh a quarter of a ton each and are made from half-inch steel plate, head towards Wolverhampton while the rest mark the return trip.
Owner Mike Dennis said at the time that it was the most challenging project ever undertaken.
The silhouettes were flame-cut by hand from steel plate with the legs and tails welded on. They are mounted on brackets in concrete.
Councillor Rowley added: "We would encourage anyone who sees this kind of offensive graffiti to report it straight away."
