‘Unfortunate’: Why Shane Warne mural was PAINTED OVER

A Sydney mural in tribute to late cricket legend Shane Warne has been painted over with an ad for whisky.

The spray-painted portrait on a wall in Paddington was made by artist Callum Hotham, shortly after Warne‘s death in March this year at the age of 52.

In recent days passers-by have been greeted with an advertisement for Maker’s Mark whisky instead.

Mark Vincent, the managing director of ad firm Habitat – which commissioned the Warne mural – said that while it was sad the tribute was gone, there was a simple explanation.

“I had to had to pay the lady (who owns the wall) for the mural, and because I was busy with other work, I didn’t have time to follow up and continue to pay,” he said.

“The wall is normally commissioned as a commercial mural, but I took the opportunity to get the portrait up of Shane Warne.”

Mr Vincent said he had hopes Cricket Australia or community members would rally to keep the mural up, but said he didn’t have time to advocate for it.

“It would have been a nice one to keep, but unfortunately I don’t have jurisdiction over the wall.”

“If only I had tried to get it up on a different wall.”

Jennifer Nelder Jones, one of the co-owners of the wedding shop Nelder Jones that owns the wall, said she had allowed Habitat to use the wall for two extra weeks free of cost.

“He had paid for four weeks, but it was up there for six weeks and we never charged him any extra,” she said.

“The other people had booked the wall in, it’s a wall that people are keen to use and (the artwork) is different every month.”

Warne, a larger-than-life star who was hailed as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, died unexpectedly in Thailand this year.

Warne was buried in a small private funeral at St Kilda Football Club in Melbourne.

He was later honoured by tens of thousands of fans who attended a public memorial at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

There are several more lasting tributes to the cricketer, including a statue outside the MCG.