The Royal Mail has said it is “disappointed” after the first postbox bearing the cypher of King Charles in Northern Ireland was vandalised less than 24 hours after it was unveiled in Belfast.
Stickers featuring the name of republican socialist group Lasair Dhearg were placed on the York Street box overnight last Wednesday, less than a day after it was unveiled as the first in the north to carry the King’s cypher.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We were disappointed to see that the new parcel postbox on York Street has been defaced. We will arrange for it to be restored as soon as possible.”
The box was unveiled on Wednesday morning by children from Belfast Royal Academy, Lord Lieutenant of Belfast Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle, and High Sheriff of Belfast, DUP councillor Frank McCoubrey.
It was also the first of 600 new solar-powered parcel postboxes being introduced across the UK by Royal Mail.
TUV representative Samuel Morrison condemned the targeting of the post box with stickers.
“I think it’s indicative of what the treatment unionists can expect, and what their culture can expect, in a new Ireland, whenever they can’t even tolerate so much as a postbox when they’re still part of the United Kingdom,” he said.
“This is the sort of agreed Ireland that people are pointing towards when people can’t even tolerate a postbox.
“I would note that while there might be an attack on this postbox by republicans, I note the absence of attacks on other depictions of His Majesty and of his sovereignty with this part of the United Kingdom, such as the money that people in all parts of Belfast, unionists, nationalists and others, seem quite happy to use.”
The stickers have since largely been removed from the postbox.
Earlier this year, Lasair Dhearg claimed responsibility for pouring red paint over a statue of Queen Victoria at the Royal Victoria Hospital in west Belfast.
The PSNI has been contacted for comment.