"Leave the kids alone": WorldPride mural vandalised
<p>A controversial mural in Sydney’s CBD has been vandalised with black paint in the midst of Sydney’s 2023 WorldPride festival.</p>
<p>The mural features Vladimir Putin wearing a teddy bear mask drinking a white Russian in bondage straps, located on York Street in Wynyard.</p>
<p>The topless man caused controversy as it was “kink and BDSM-inspired”.</p>
<p>Vandals painted over it, as well as writing “leave the kids alone”.</p>
<p>NSW Police said they were informed the paint was splashed over the mural around 9:30pm.</p>
<p>"Police attended the scene, seizing a number of items which have been taken for further examination," NSW Police said in a statement.</p>
<p>"About four hours later, police were called back to the scene after more paint was splashed onto the artwork.”</p>
<p>An investigation is underway, and police are appealing for anyone with information to contact Day Street Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/sydney/comments/118x5ud/as_a_gay_guy_im_disappointed_in_this/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">An image of the mural prior to the vandalisation</a> appeared on Reddit, and it received a lot of engagement.</p>
<p>The original poster captioned the photo, “As a gay guy, I’m disappointed in this advertisement. There’s kids everywhere, that would definitely traumatise me as a child … It’s for Mardi Gras, marketing fail in my opinion.<span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">”</span></p>
<p>“Yeah it's not really appropriate for kids.” Another said.</p>
<p>“It’s not appropriate, period.” Read another comment.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@peterconway/video/7202935518064135425?q=sydney%20mural%20vandalised%20moeyreacts&t=1677192736805" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A video of the graffitied mural</a> then appeared on TikTok, with most users seemingly happy it had been defaced.</p>
<p>“Not all heroes wear capes,” one user commented, referencing the vandals.</p>
<p>"Looks so much better." Another added.</p>
<p>The mural had been commissioned by YCK Laneways, which operates retail, hospitals and entertainment business in Sydney’s CBD.</p>
<p>The City of Sydney and WorldPrise organisers stated they did not commission the mural.</p>
<p><em>Image credit: Reddit/TikTok</em></p>
