Vandals graffiti Queen's Metro train at museum
BBC/Jim ScottMuseum staff were left "heartbroken" after a newly donated train, famously ridden by Queen Elizabeth II, was covered in graffiti that could potentially cost thousands of pounds to put right.
The Tyne and Wear Metro unit had only been delivered to the the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum in Washington, near Sunderland, on 30 June.
Known as car number 4020, the late queen travelled on the train when she officially opened the network in 1981 and the train was selected for preservation when the fleet was recently upgraded.
However, vandals gained access to the museum and sprayed the train with graffiti, damaging the original paint.
Museum chair David Charles said a full repaint is likely to be needed with the cost running into thousands.
"We're very, very disappointed because we thought, as we are a heritage museum, we would be left alone. But clearly not."
BBC/Jim ScottCharles said the museum would initially try using "special chemicals" to right the damage, as suggested by the Metro operator Nexus.
But he said any work would now require "a lot of elbow grease" and a "a lot of unnecessary work for volunteers who do this for free".
The museum had seen a rise in visitors since the Metro train's arrival, but many were dismayed by the vandalism.
Martin Oliver said: "I am all for art, and there's a time and place, but I wouldn't class it as art - it's destruction .
"It's a one off, the Queen was on that. You can't exactly exchange it for something else."
BBC/Jim ScottVolunteers previously told the BBC how excited they were to receive the 'Royal train' as part of a project to revitalise the museum.
That included a wider plan to raise money to build a shed to protect the train from the elements and, now, vandalism.
"It's a plan that requires significant funding and a significant timeline," Charles said.
"But now we know it's at risk, as a museum we cant just go 'we'll get round to it at some stage'.
"We need to move it forward."
