A Dundee man was left “disgusted” when a tribute statue to jute workers was vandalised — so he launched a one-man clean-up effort.
The Jute Women sculpture on Lochee High Street was covered with graffiti, with green paint daubed on both the adult and child figures, earlier this week.
When Myles McCallum came across the mess he said that he immediately recoiled at the thought of women who had worked in the jute mills around the city coming across the statue in that condition.
The 37-year-old electrician told the Tele that he went to a nearby store and purchased cleaning equipment before setting about restoring the statues.
He said: “I live in Lochee and I had seen some stuff online about the statue being targeted.
“The jute mills are a huge part of the heritage of the city and I would hate for one of the women who had worked in the mills to have seen that. The statue is there for us to remember the people that worked in the jute mills and it is something that is really important to me.
“I was totally gutted to see that it had been vandalised. I’m Lochee born and bred and my father had a paper shop in the area.
“When I was young and I was delivering papers, I knew a lot of women who had worked in the mills.
“They are a huge part of the community and I was disgusted by this, so I had to do something about it.
“I went across to a nearby store and bought some cleaning supplies — I spent about an hour-and-a-half cleaning it up.
“There were a few people in the area who stood and watched and they had smiles on their faces, so I guess they liked what I had done.
“I just thought that it was the right thing to do.”
Miles said that he hopes people in the community can follow his lead and “take the initiative” and have pride in their area.
Stella Carrington, who modelled for the adult figure, praised Myles’ effort as “absolutely fantastic.
She said: “I can’t express how brilliant it is that he has gone out and cleaned it up.
“As a young man, to go out and go to that effort, when he probably only knows about the Jute industry second hand, is just fantastic.”