A mural of Brighton captain Bruno was vandalised with red paint ahead of their game with unlikely rivals Crystal Palace.
The “El Capitan” portrait of Bruno, which adorns a wall of Gelato Gusto in the town centre, was likely to have been splashed in the early hours of Tuesday morning, its owner said.
Arrived at the shop this morning to find the Bruno mural defaced😩Red paint still running down the wallsGuys from Brighton Council doing an amazing job trying to remove it! pic.twitter.com/7XmhfZ9oXk
— Gelato Gusto (@gelatogusto) November 28, 2017
Jon Adams, who runs the ice cream shop on Church Street, said: “There’s history between the two teams but it’s the first time I’ve experienced something like this.
“But, I guess having a full-length mural of the Brighton captain on your wall does make you a bit of a target!”
The vandalised portrait was cleaned with jet-blasters by council workers on Tuesday morning.
Mr Adams, 53, added: “A lot of people have said Bruno now looks like he’s seeing red mist – so at least they’re taking it as a positive sign for tonight.”
Good to see it’s all been cleaned up this morning. 👏🏼 (via @Reidmitchell17) pic.twitter.com/jvtAAIBRLD
— The Away Fans (@theawayfans) November 28, 2017
Brighton and Palace, who play at 7:45pm on Tuesday, have not met in the top flight since 1981.
Despite being separated by almost 50 miles, the two teams have been fierce rivals since the late 1970s after a string of heated games in both the league and FA Cup.
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