Has Bristol Banksy mural come under attack from supporters of rival graffiti artist

A vandalised Banksy mural in Bristol has come under further attack - this time from what appears to be the supporters of a rival to the Bristolian graffiti artist.

‘Valentine’ was unveiled in Marsh Street in Barton Hill in 2020. On the side of a large house, it featured a young girl firing roses from a slingshot, creating an explosion of red petals which ‘dripped’ down onto the street sign below.

But within days of it appearing, someone wrote ‘BCC W******’ over part of the girl, and so the stencilled figure was boarded over, as it remains today. The explosion of petals was also covered with a Perspex sheet and metal fencing went up against the wall.

The metal fencing, however, did not stop a graffiti artist Peachy stenciling the figure of a new man attempting to pry away the boarding last year.

Now, more graffiti has appeared on the wall, boarding and Perspex sheet - and they point toward the followers of an artist best known for a long-running feud with Banksy. King Robbo, who also had a secret identity, died in 2011, but the ‘Team Robbo’, ‘RIP’ and ‘Robbo’ tags on the Barton Hill mural appear to be in his name.

According to The Guardian, the pair’s dispute started when they first met and Banksy claimed to not know Robbo, who responded by giving the Bristolian a slap. Robbo, who gave an interview for a Channel 4 documentary called Graffiti Wars just before he died, said Banksy then painted over one of his then-last surviving works in Camden in north London.

The feud continued with some of Banksy’s works being targeted by Robbo, or his supporters with similar tags to the ones seen on the Valentine mural in Barton Hill.

BristolWorld can’t confirm the Bristol mural has been tagged by Robbo’s followers, and it’s not clear at this stage if the newly-appeared words will be removed. But the site is in a sorry state compared to that big unveiling three years ago.