Fears have been raised that an oft-vandalised unofficial memorial will be targeted again unless money is raised to protect it.

The iconic ‘Cofiwch Dryweryn’ mural on a wall on the outskirts of Llanrhystud was vandalised again last week after it was daubed over with the word ‘Elvis’ and a heart.

People gathered early in the week to repaint the original message - meaning ‘Remember Tryweryn’.

The original graffiti appeared after the village of Capel Celyn in Gwynedd was flooded in 1965, sparking widespread protests.

The Cambrian News has regularly reported on the memorial being defaced since it was first painted, and Llanrhystud councillor Rowland Rees-Evans has called for money to be raised to protect it after a previous fundraising attempt to renovate the wall and protect it through Welsh Government funding and match-funding from local councils failed to materialise.

Cllr Rees-Evans told the Cambrian News that he was “very disappointed” that the wall had been vandalised.

“I am afraid that it will probably happen again, unless we can raise some money and save the wall by letting the National Trust take over the care and repair of this iconic wall,” he said.

“I am talking to the trust again and we are looking at ways to raise some money, the last time we tried was just as the banking crises took hold.”

Ceredigion MP Ben Lake said: “It beggars belief that the individuals responsible could be so ignorant or disrespectful of the cultural importance of this mural, which is proudly held as an important piece of Welsh heritage.

“It is heartening that volunteers have sought to put things right, and they are to be thanked for their work to restore the mural.

“However, this most recent episode does raise the question about what more can be done to prevent future acts of vandalism.

“Given that the Welsh Government has expressed a willingness to support the preservation of the Banksy mural in Port Talbot, consideration should be given as to how the Cofiwch Dryweryn mural can also be supported.

"One would hope that, at the very least, greater official recognition of the mural as a site of cultural importance would deter most from defacing it.”

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now