Local residents were saddened to find that artworks, benches and pathway on a new public trail in Longbridge had been vandalised with blue spray paint this morning (Wednesday 12th June).
Trail creators St Modwen have confirmed this afternoon that the vandals were caught on CCTV and West Midlands Police are investigating.
The River Rea Trail opened last month and features a nature walk, wooden sculptures and painted art works, an outdoor gym, play area and more along a level access pathway.
The managed trail runs along the riverside route of an old access road for Rover workers – between Rubery Lane and Longbridge town centre. It is fully lit and covered by CCTV cameras for everyone’s safety.
The trail has already become a popular community asset for locals and those from further afield, with thousands having accessed it since its opening at the end of May.
However, this morning, blue paint was daubed on to sculptures and benches with lewd, childish comments spray painted on to the footpath.
The trail is maintained, on St Modwen’s behalf, by an outside company who will be removing the graffiti as soon as possible – hopefully completed today.
Any future issues on the trail can be reported to the management company so that they can be dealt with swiftly by emailing infolongbridge@stmodwen.co.uk
Lately more and more graffiti has been appearing around the area. The shops at Fairfax road has started to gain graffiti on the shutters. Often that is blue. Someone must be selling this paint and suspect what it’s being used for.