AN animal charity was left “in shock” after a special mural was removed from its shop wall by council workers in less than a day.

The RSPCA charity shop in Montague Street, Worthing, had been given a dog-themed display on one of its exterior walls by street artist Horace.

The urban artist, whose real name is Tom Norris, is well known in the town and his paintings can be seen on buildings across Worthing, as well as other sites in the country and Europe.

His mural for the RSPCA, which depicted the relationship between humans and dogs throughout history, was painted over three days but was removed on Thursday after a complaint that it was “offensive”.

Nick Cockram, chairman of the RSPCA Sussex Chichester and District Branch, said: “It’s been such a difficult year so we’d hoped to add a little cheer with Horace’s fantastic mural on the side of our Worthing charity shop, ready for when it reopened to welcome shoppers again after lockdown.

“We’d sought permission from our landlord, who was more than happy for the painting to be added to his building, and we were really looking forward to the local community seeing it too.

“Sadly, it was removed by the council within 24 hours of being completed, without us being consulted.

“We were really shocked, especially as it didn’t appear any other murals or graffiti had been removed.

“We certainly didn’t intend to offend anyone, we just wanted to raise the profile of our shop to raise more money to help the cats and dogs at Mount Noddy.”

The charity is responsible for running the RSPCA Mount Noddy Animal Centre near Chichester, helped more than 300 rescued animals last year.

Worthing Borough Council issued an apology to the RSPCA, and said the painting was removed after a complaint that it was “offensive”.

Horace has since painted a small dog on the same wall as a temporary replacement for the original mural, titled Evolution of Dog, which featured six dogs, a caveman and a modern-day woman walking with a tiny dog in a bag.

A council spokesman said: “We are in ongoing and positive dialogue with the artist and the RSPCA.”