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That George Pell Marriage Mural Was Vandalised Overnight

The pub has been slammed with negative reviews from religious types.
Scott Marsh/Instagram

A light-hearted mural depicting Tony Abbott in a wedding dress and Cardinal George Pell in rainbow undies, in celebration of the Yes marriage equality survey result, has been vandalised just hours after being completed.

The mural, by popular street artist Scott Marsh, was painted on the Botany View Hotel in Newtown, in Sydney's inner-west. It features the two marriage equality opponents in an embarrassing scene; Abbott in a wedding dress and tiara, with a pink sash reading 'bride to be', while drinking a bottle of Penfolds Grange, next to a ripped and muscled Pell in rainbow underwear. The mural is titled 'the happy ending'.

It's not Marsh's first mural of the Member for Warringah, with the artist famously daubing a pair of Abbotts getting married -- one in a suit, the other in a wedding dress.

His previous work has included a mural of two Kanye Wests kissing, which later went viral online.

Marsh finished his latest mural on Wednesday, but by later that evening, it had already allegedly been vandalised. Marsh shared another photo on Wednesday night, just five hours after first posting a picture of the completed mural, showing Pell's face had been covered over with a huge splatter of paint.

A post shared by Scott Marsh (@scottie.marsh) on

A spokesman for the Botany View Hotel was reluctant to talk about the incident, only confirming to HuffPost Australia that it had happened sometime Wednesday night and that they had not reported the incident to police.

"I came in this morning and it was like that," he said.

"I don't think anyone saw anything."

HuffPost Australia has contacted Marsh for comment, but he told Broadsheet that the mural and pub had been attracting criticism since yesterday.

"The manager called me and said he had taken the pub's phone off the hook because of the religious folk calling the pub non-stop all night," he told Broadsheet.

As Broadsheet also noted, the Botany View Hotel's Facebook page had been inundated with one-star reviews from those opposed to the mural, but by Thursday morning, an equal number of five-star reviews had been registered in response from supporters.

"I think the picture you put up on your wall of Abbott and Pell is disgraceful," wrote one critic.

"No one says you should not celebrate your win but to demean others in this way is vile beyond words."

Another wrote: "I think that the Yes mural is in extremely poor taste. There are so many other ways to depict a celebration."

Others defended the artwork.

"In regards to the mural - if you're upset about this, just remember that it is only a piece of art on a wall," one supporter wrote.

"You fools don't even realise you are giving this fabulous business free publicity and that delicious mural should be a contender to replace the queen on all our currency," said another.

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