Street art honouring the woman who was a ground-breaking computer programmer has been removed alongside England flag graffiti in Reading.
The street painting paid tribute to Ada Lovelace, who is widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer for working on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.
The painting featured her with a yellow headband, equations and the text ‘Ada Lovelace: Engineering Pioneer 1815-1852’.
The art was painted on a utility cabinet in Northumberland Avenue, Whitley, which recently had St George’s crosses spray painted on it, alongside a faded graffiti inscription in a Middle Eastern language.
It is understood that a masked man was seen painting the crosses on street signs and road markings throughout Whitley, including Long Barn Lane and Cressingham Road.
A Reading Borough Council street cleaner had removed the graffiti by around 1pm on Tuesday, August 26.
But at that time, the painting on the utility cabinet remained. All street art on the cabinet was seen removed at 7.30pm yesterday (Thursday, August 28).
A council spokesperson said: “The Council’s graffiti team has been cleaning and repainting road signs and road safety assets which have recently been spray painted, prioritising sites where there was a safety risk to the public.
They have also been repainting a number of other affected highway assets and unfortunately in this instance, it appears that a piece of street art was painted over in the process of that work being carried out.”
It is not known what the Middle Eastern inscription means, but similar examples can be found on utility cabinets throughout Whitley and East Reading.
Although it is suspected that the writing is in Arabic, that is unclear, as Farsi uses similar calligraphy.
