Online poll | Majority wants City Gate ‘love’ graffitto removed

The author of the 'love' graffitto at the City Gate entrance might have got away scot free, however the majority of respondents in MaltaToday's latest online poll want the artwork removed.  

Last week, workers from the public works department were called in to remove the graffito of a man and a woman forming a heart with their hands and arms from the façade of the City Gate entrance. However, the graffiitto has only been temporarily covered until works begin.

Police officers on patrol discovered the graffito, painted by an anonymous artist at around 4am,, however the artist fled the scene after being spotted.

63% of respondents said that the artwork should be removed because it did Renzo Piano's design no favours, while the rest of the respondents thought that the graffitto should not be removed and considered it as part of our new urban landscape.

In total 3,286 respondents took part in the poll, with 2075 expressing their disdain at the daring artistic act.

The police are still searching for the person who was seen running into Republic Street being spotted and although fingerprints were left on the can of paint left behind by the artist, a government spokesperson said it would not be easy to track down the author of the work.

The Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation said that it would be undertaking an exercise to see what kind of solvent is necessary to remove the graffito. Meanwhile, temporary measures will be employed to secure the area and keep City Gate under surveillance, since no CCTV cameras have yet been set up in the area.