Deleted Perth ‘Scottie dog’ street art to be reincarnated in Dundee

A “zapped” piece of Perth street art is to be brought back from the dead – in Dundee.

Ian Cuthbert Imrie’s mural, Love Scotland, divided the people of the Fair City in October when the Scottie dog painting – which had been put up without permission – was unceremoniously removed from the back of the newlyrefurbished B-listed Perth Theatre.

Now Mr Imrie, 80, has said workers at a new community centre in Dundee have asked him to repaint the mural on their building. He said staff at the Stobswell Centre wanted to “adopt” it.

“They want me to paint on the wall of the centre. It’s an amazing response from Dundee when in Perth they went ahead and zapped it,” he said.

“They gave me a call and asked me to go up on Thursday. I am quite proud of it.

“Sometimes when an artist does a piece of work it just seems to work and hits the right note. It certainly hit the right note on social media at the time. It is a lovely image and a lot of people liked it. It is a positive symbol.”

The painting split opinion when it was erased in October. Many people stopped for selfies next to it before it was erased.

One local wrote on social media: “It’s stunning – leave it. Graffiti, or art, it’s cute and it could be worth a fortune in the coming years. It’s not harming anyone, there’s certainly a lot more graffiti in and around Perth.”

Others condemned Mr Imrie’s actions. One said: “Although I agree it is nice and I like it, it is blatant vandalism.

“What makes them think they can just turn up and do this to someone else’s property without permission?”