Engineer mural removed during graffiti clean-up

The street art was left alone by the person who spray painted the St George's cross on the box

Street art honouring a pioneering engineer has been painted over by council workers who had been tasked with removing St George's flag graffiti.

The artwork in Reading honoured Ada Lovelace, who is widely regarded as the world's first computer programmer after she worked on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine in the 19th Century.

The painting on a utility box in Northumberland Avenue, Whitley, depicted Lovelace - who lived between 1815 and 1852 - wearing a yellow headband and surrounded by equations.

A Reading Borough Council spokesperson said staff had been cleaning and repainting road signs when "unfortunately in this instance, it appears a piece of street art was painted over".

The artwork and St George's crosses have since been painted over

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said a masked man had been spotted painting the St George's crosses on signs and road markings throughout Whitley last week and they were removed on Tuesday.

The street art on the cabinet had been removed by Thursday evening.

A council spokesperson said: "The council's graffiti team has been cleaning and repainting road signs and road safety assets which have recently been spray painted, prioritising sites where there was a safety risk to the public.

"They have also been repainting a number of other affected highway assets and unfortunately in this instance, it appears that a piece of street art was painted over in the process of that work being carried out."