A massive clean-up was underway on Monday after vandals in face masks trashed the street art that adorns Melbourne’s famous Hosier Lane.
A gang of vandals armed with paint guns hit the popular laneway on Saturday night, spraying over the hundreds of artworks that line its walls.
The gang of about 10 filmed their destruction, even bringing along a drone to assist.
The art on the walls of buildings in Hosier Lane, in Melbourne’s CBD, draws thousands of tourists from Australia and overseas every day. The lane has hosted numerous photo shoots and even concerts.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Joe Musco (@joe_musco) on
But it was a gloomy site on Monday morning, with smudgy sprays of blurred colour obscuring the famous artworks.
The trashing sparked outrage from many on social media. Joe Musco shared a video of the vandalism on his Instagram, writing: “Check this out. These dudes with face masks carrying fire extinguisher filled with paint hit up Hosier lane tonite.
“A lot of awesome art work was destroyed,” he went on. “I don’t know mate but that’s just s–t. Anyhow that’s how it goes.”
Sad to see some dickheads ruining Hosier Lane. What was the point? https://t.co/PHxUon7xPO
— Andrea Hamblin (@AndieHamblin) February 9, 2020
The vandalism was first reported by Melbourne’s 3AW radio, which called the gang “masked killjoys”. Host Ross Stevenson told listeners the vandals had “obliterated all the street art”.
By late on Monday morning, contractors armed with high-powered hoses were cleaning the paint off the lane’s cobblestones. It’s unclear whether the artwork can be cleaned or has been permanently damaged.
What complete & utter dickheads: the street art in Hosier Lane in Melbourne obliterated by jerks in masks while being filmed by a drone. Wimps. https://t.co/7zgPjZLCdv via @Ro_Smith @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/sqDa0Vor7a
— Melissa Hoyer (@melissahoyer) February 9, 2020
Paint bomb in #hosierlane #melbourne @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/5Tqx4BbkMm
— Iskhandar Razak (@Isk137) February 9, 2020
Contractors cleaning cobblestones on Hosier Lane after a raid by a masked gang with fire extinguishers full of paint obliterated existing street art. A culture war between radical graffiti and more commercial street art? 6pm #7NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/XX5kfhEoXR
— NickMcCallum7 (@NickMcCallum7) February 9, 2020
The post Vandals armed with paint guns destroy laneway’s famous street art appeared first on The New Daily.
**Business and Marketing support on best price; Hit the link now----> http://bit.ly/2HsQmSi