A PICTURESQUE and historic part of Colchester has been left blighted by a spate of “mindless” graffiti.

Despairing residents noticed the crude paint splashed across the walls of buildings in the town’s Dutch Quarter.

Walls were tagged with illegible markings and letters in Northgate Street, Ball Alley and Stockwell.

Castle ward councillor Daniel Ellis (Con) slammed the culprits and said he would be seeking to review CCTV footage from the area.

“As I arrived on Monday to inspect the vandalism police were on the scene knocking on doors, so they are aware,” he said.

“Everyone in Colchester takes pride in the Dutch Quarter.

“It is an historical area for us and I am hugely disappointed to see evidence of vandals trying to ruin it.

“There is actually a wall for people to tag in Maidenburgh Street with some quite attractive art on it.

“This is not artistic, it is graffiti. “I think around the summer period it becomes more prevalent as there a lot of bored kids who think it is a good idea to do something like this.

“I am going to be contacting councillor Mike Lilley (Lab) to see if there is CCTV footage we can review to find out who has done this.”

Last month, fellow Castle ward councillor Darius Laws (Con) caught vandals painting tags on the oldest Roman wall in the country.

The gang of eight yobs ran off after defacing the stretch of wall, near Castle Park.

After hearing about the latest markings left in the Dutch Quarter, Mr Laws said something must be done to tackle vandalism in the town.

“There is absolutely nothing artistic about this tagging,” he said. “It is mindless criminal damage.

“I’ve even noticed a tree in near Castle park at Middle Mill has been tagged.

“I’d urge anyone who has information on those responsible to come forward.

“Those responsible should be forced to pay reparations and undertake days worth of community service to make up for their crime.

“There is no place for this kind of vandalism in Colchester.”

The Dutch Quarter is rich with history, being home to the old timber-framed Stockwell Arms - which is thought to date back as far as the 1380s.

Although some say it is where the Dutch settled when they brought their cloth-making trade to Colchester, historian Andrew Phillips disputes this.

He says references to the Dutch Quarter only begin to appear in the history books after the turn of the 20th century and it is thought the term ‘Dutch Quarter’ was only formally adopted after the Second World War.

Colchester Council zone wardens were aware of the graffiti and said a team would be dispatched to remove it.