Fury as Hove Plinth by targeted by graffiti vandals

Vandals targeted Hove Plinth with black spray paint over the weekend.

A photograph of the tagging was shared in the Facebook group Hove Seafront Residents Association, with the caption “a sad sight to see”.

One furious resident described the vandalism as “thoughtless”, while another said it was “beyond words”.

Hove Plinth

Brighton and Hove City Council removed the graffiti from the plinth on Monday morning and said it was “saddened” to see that the monument had become a target.

But speaking to The Argus, Robert Nemeth, founder of Hove Beach Hut Association and Conservative city councillor for Wish Ward, said the council has a permissive approach.

He said: “The permissive approach that we see locally towards anti-social behaviour inevitably leads to these sorts of incidents which are always demoralising to those of us who want the city’s appearance to return to what it once was.

Graffiti on Hove beach huts last year

“The solution is of course to crack down on low-level crime but this won’t be happening any time soon when we have a council that always turns a blind eye.”

It is not the first time seafront structures and landmarks have been targeted by vandals.

In November last year, benches on Hove promenade were left with broken seats and missing panels.

A few months earlier, beach huts near Hove Lawns were tagged with blue spray paint. A spokesman for the city council said it has taken measures to tackle vandalism along the seafront.

He said: “We’re very saddened to see public monuments such as the Hove plinth being targeted by graffiti vandals. “Graffiti is a problem all over the world and we’re no exception. There are no easy answers in terms of tackling graffiti, but we take the issue very seriously. “We have invested in the city's first 24-hour graffiti clean-up trial. Further deep cleans around the city are planned. “We have also extended community protection notices to tackle graffiti vandalism. They now cover graffiti on commercially owned buildings and street furniture.”

The council said it removes offensive graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported and non-offensive graffiti “as soon as we can from public monuments, subject to weather conditions and workloads”.