Cartoonized National election sign by State Highway 2 in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / George Novak
Cartoonized National election sign by State Highway 2 in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / George Novak
A National Party election board has been vandalised with a cartoon of the Joker with Batman and Robin kissing in the background.
While the jury is still out on who is depicted as each character, the local MPs are praising the craftsmanship and say it is an invaluable piece of art.
The billboard was originally Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller's and was placed at on State Highway 2 in Te Puna, on the outskirts of Tauranga.
This is not the first time the National Party has been depicted though the Batman cartoon.
Prime Minister John Key and local MP Simon Bridges have had one of their billboards altered on Waihi Rd. Photo / File
"My volunteers saw it, and they thought it was hilarious."
National's Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller would love to meet the artist behind the election board. Photo / Supplied
Muller said there was a fair amount of difference in interpretation, and he was not sure whether it was him or Collins who was depicted as the Joker, as it was his campaign board.
When asked what he thought about the National Party being portrayed in an evil light, he said he "did not look at it through that lens at all".
"You'd have to talk to the remarkable artist, who clearly took some time doing it, to get the interpretation that he or she wanted."
He said the defacing was "not in the same ballpark" as the other vandalism seen throughout the campaign which involved willful destruction of signage.
"Most of the time my volunteers are picking up broken wood with a bit of a heavy heart because we work hard to raise money for the wood structures that get demolished.
Cartoonized National election sign on State Highway 2 in Te Puna, near Tauranga. Photo / George Novak
"It's very different when people take the time to add their own creative flare."
Which is why he has taken it down, saying it's gone straight to the pool room.
"It may well become a bit of an icon in times to come."
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges was gutted the "seriously cool" board was not in his electorate as he wanted to put it up beside the 2014 art.
"But I presume I might have to pay Todd ... Judith might even want it," he said.
"It might be worth a lot of money one day."
National Tauranga MP Simon Bridges wishes the board was in his electorate, so he could keep it. Photo / File
Bridges still had the board from the 2014 election in his home and said they had auctioned copies of it for "quite a lot of money" but said he did not remember how much.
This money went to local charity Homes of Hope, and one of the copies was currently displayed in a local dentist.
He disputed the idea the graffiti painted the party in a negative light and said Collins was not portrayed as evil.
"I think it's a bit of fun ... I think it's a really good artist who has done some pop art."
