Murals of cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse at an asylum centre for children have been painted over, the Home Office has said.
Immigration minister, Robert Jenrick gave the order to cover up the cartoon character because they were too welcoming, according to The i, who first published the story.
Mr Jenrick is thought to have told staff at the Kent asylum intake unit to cover the murals up in April.
According to The i, staff at the centre are “horrified” by the order which was carried out on Tuesday.
Following the removal of the artwork, Guy Venables, a cartoonist for Private Eye has offered to repaint the mural.
“The victims of this are the sort of victims who really can’t stand up for themselves.
“So whenever this sort of thing happens it gets us cartoonists’ necks up because this is what we rail against the whole time,” he told Sky News.
“We will be cartoonists for a lot longer than Robert Jenrick will be in mainstream politics.
“So we’ll paint it back on. If they paint it over, we’ll carry on. It’s all you can do about this kind of evil.”
A spokesperson for the Home Office said: “We do all we can to ensure children are safe, secure and supported as we urgently seek placements with a local authority.
“All children receive a welfare interview on their arrival at accommodation, which includes questions designed to identify potential indicators of trafficking or safeguarding issues.
“Our priority is to stop the boats and disrupt the people smugglers. The government has gone further by introducing legislation which will ensure that those people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.”
