EXCLUSIVE By Phil Coleman Chief reporter

Last updated 08:08, Friday, 03 October 2008

Nationalist fanatics have been blamed for destroying a sign erected by artists next to the M6 to create an artificial Scottish border south of Carlisle.

The remains of the sign with artist Jennifer Brooks, left and farmer Margaret Wilson

The 12ft-long artwork was put on farmland next to the northbound motorway, a mile north of Southwaite, welcoming motorists to Scotland.

It was the work of five campaigning Carlisle artists who want to see the city incorporated into Scotland because they feel their work would be better supported there.

But the daring art project has touched some raw nationalist nerves, it seems.

It caused so much offence one critic attacked it at night, cutting away words from the vinyl sign and smashing it.

The attack, being investigated by police, came just five days after the sign was erected in a field 20 yards from the M6 last Friday.

Jennifer Brooks, 22, one of the artist involved, was staggered by the depth of feeling the sign provoked and by anonymous messages, including an email which said: “How dare you – people died to keep the Scots out of England.”

She explained that the sign was part of an outdoor arts festival called FRED, which is due to end this year because of a lack of funding.

She said: “The idea of the artwork was to stir up a debate about whether Carlisle should be in Scotland.

“It has been in the distant past and we as a group of artist feel that we receive very little support from English councils where in Scotland in places such as Dumfries & Galloway local authorities are really supportive of the arts.

“They fund a lot more events and a lot more public art projects. I was warned that there might be a strong reaction but the strength of feeling really has surprised me.

“Some people have said it’s really great, but some people have been offended.

“One asked how we dared to do this when people had died to keep ‘Jocks’ out. I didn’t realise there would be such anti-Scottish feeling.

“But we really do feel as artists that we would be better off north of the border.

“It’s a shame that the sign has been destroyed but I suppose this will raise the debate so maybe in the long term it will be a good thing.”

She believes that it was English nationalists who destroyed the sign.

The farmland where the artwork was placed belongs to Margaret Wilson, 54, and her husband Geoff, 54.

She said: “We found the damage when we went down to move the sign to a place higher up the field so it would be more visible from the motorway.

“We got such a shock.

“The sign was just lying on the ground, and the words Welcome to Scotland had been cut out. It’s criminal damage.

“It was just an artwork, and harmless. Presumably, they parked on the hard shoulder of the motorway and will have broken the highway regulations to do this.”

Margaret believes the damage may have been done by a Scot, angered at the idea that Carlisle could be incorporated into its borders.

She added: “I think it’s a lovely country. It’s always a pleasure to head north.

“But this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened – last time it was the Irish. Some years ago, before foot and mouth, I put a Union Jack on a trailer next to the motorway

“Somebody wrote on it the words ‘No Surrender’. I was surprised that time, but I wasn’t this time.”

The other artists who worked on the sign project were Jen Martin, 21, James Hamilton, Rich Webster, and Gary Gardiner.