A GRAFFITI artist has provoked fury by using a piece of Colchester’s Roman heritage as a canvas.

A stretch of Roman wall, on Balkerne Hill, has been tagged by a vandal using white spraypaint.

Will Quince, Tory candidate for Colchester at next month’s general election, said he was shocked to see the 2,000-year-old fortifications targeted.

He said: “This act of vandalism is, quite frankly, disgusting. Graffiti tags are unacceptable, but in vandalising such an important piece of our town’s heritage, this individual has gone too far.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable to graffiti everything our town stands for.

“I hope it’s not targeted vandalism, because it’s such an important piece of the town’s heritage.”

Mr Quince said he had since discovered the tag on other walls.

He added: “I found five other examples of this tag across the town and will inform the council and send the photos to the police, to help them catch the individual responsible.”

Sgt Stuart Colbear, from the Colchester Town Neighbourhood Policing team, said: “Graffiti looks messy and can make an area feel unsafe. We will be looking into this.”

Last month chunks of the masonry fell off the Balkerne Hill stretch of the wall because of the freezing weather.