AN OUTRAGED butcher has said persistent graffiti is making his street look like a “shanty town”.

A tagger spray-painted the words “cool boy” across many shops and buildings in Lewes Road, Brighton.

It was also underneath a plaque honouring Ernest Frederick Beal, a Victoria Cross winning soldier who died in the First World War.

Paul Clark, 48, who owns Clark’s Meats and Poultry, based in Lewes Road, said: “I noticed the graffiti on Wednesday morning and I was absolutely gobsmacked.

“The tagger has got no respect for the city or the people who fought to give them a better life and the country we have now.”

The Argus reported in February that the war memorial had been surrounded by bright pink and green graffiti.

This was painted over and wreaths were laid at the plaque as a mark of respect by several groups, including pupils from nearby Fairlight Primary and Nursery School.

But, this did not deter the vandal, who reached over the wreaths to spray paint their tag on the wall.

So, Year 5 pupils at the school wrote a letter to the tagger which is being displayed in Mr Clark’s business’s window.

It stated: “In our opinion, we think that you could have expressed your feelings about the plaque in a different way.

“When we saw the graffiti, we thought that you could have done something else. There wasn’t really a point to it.

“We were saddened and very disappointed by your horrifying actions because the plaque is where someone grew up who died in the war.”

They suggested the person responsible for the graffiti “considered making a picture of the war instead with poppies on”.

The school’s headmaster, Damien Jordan, 46, said: “It’s an increasing problem, especially at this end of town.

“As a school we do work about graffiti and look at the difference between artistic graffiti and vandalism.

“The children understand the difference.

“We have also worked with a local history society to learn about the memorial plaque, so when it was vandalised the pupils were very upset.”

Mr Jordan said that he told the the history society after seeing the graffiti.

Within hours, society member Robert Stevenson had purchased white paint, visited the plaque and covered over the graffiti.