A piece of street art in Bristol that was this week confirmed as by Banksy has been vandalised.

A picture shared on social media showed “BCC W*****S” scrawled across the artwork, which shows a young girl firing a slingshot.

The Herald:

One local resident who spotted the vandalism said: “It’s a real shame, but it was always going to happen unfortunately.”

Residents in the Barton Hill area of the city awoke on Thursday to find the striking piece on the side of a building.

The artwork, in Marsh Lane, features a stencilled image of a girl firing a slingshot of red flowers and leaves.

Banksy confirmed the piece by posting two images of it on his official Instagram account and website in the early hours of Valentine’s Day.

The artwork appeared on a rented home owned by Edwin Simons, who celebrated his 67th birthday on Thursday.

His daughter, Kelly Woodruff, 37, found out about it after being tagged in a Facebook post.