Sheffield Children's Hospital arts trail sculpture vandalised

The damage looked like someone had "rugby tackled" the sculpture, one person said

One of 60 giant bear statues put on display in Sheffield as part of a charity arts trail has been vandalised.

The 6ft (180cm) tall sculpture - entitled 'Be Nice & Be Together' - was found damaged at the base on Sunday.

One passer-by said it looked as though the statue had been "rugby tackled" while artist Geo Law said he felt saddened by the incident.

The sculpture is part of an arts trail raising money for the Sheffield Children's Hospital Charity.

A spokesperson for the charity said the sculpture, which had been situated in The Moor, would be fixed but asked people to be "extra gentle" with the bears.

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The bear has been taken away to be fixed, the charity said

Illustrator and mural creator Mr Law said he "wasn't very surprised" the bear had been vandalised.

He said: "I kind of feel more sad for the team that have to deal with getting the bear fixed, but I also feel bad for people that can't see it on their trail.

"My design is to promote a positive message and to remind everyone that it's just nicer to be nice and easier to be kind to each other. The irony is not lost on me that it happened to be my bear that happened to be damaged."

Cheryl Davidson, project manager for the Bears of Sheffield trail, said while it was unclear how the sculpture was damaged the incident had been reported to the police.

Last week, some of the sculptures were defaced with stickers directing people to an anti-vaccination website.