Mural of Nicola Sturgeon set to free man shackled to Covid appears in Edinburgh – The Sun

A GRAFFITI artist dubbed ‘the Scottish Banksy’ has depicted Nicola Sturgeon set to free Scotland from the shackles of coronavirus.

The mural is the latest in a string of Covid pieces from The Rebel Bear, and can be seen close to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

The mysterious artist works in the wee hours then shares his paintings on Instagram, giving punters the option to buy them.

During lockdown, The Rebel Bear has been extremely busy, and has created a series of Covid-inspired murals, mostly in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Some of his most popular pieces have been a couple pulling down their masks to share a kiss, and an NHS worker in PPE making a loveheart symbol with her hands.

Another of his early works showed a man in black and white being shackled by a huge green virus particle, which appeared on Bath Street in Glasgow city centre last April.

And The Rebel Bear has revisited that piece for his latest mural, but put a more positive spin on it.

Standing beside the restrained man is Ms Sturgeon, who is holding a pair of boltcutters.

And with a ‘freedom’ hashtag including on the artist’s Instagram post, he appears to be implying the pensive-looking First Minister is ready to cut the chain and set the Scottish people free.

And with the Canongate mural being within a stone’s throw of the Scottish Parliament, Ms Sturgeon may even see the artwork during her time at Holyrood.

The Rebel Bear shared the photos on Instagram, saying: “The previous lockdown man with the wee addition of Nicola. Located at 80 Canongate right next to the Scottish Parliament.”

Since being posted last night, the pics have racked up almost 2,000 likes and attracted dozens of comments.

And Scots artist created a mural close to Old Trafford which showed Rashford, surrounded by a number of school children holding empty plates, booting down the door of 10 Downing Street.

And he has previously decorated dozens of walls with installations and stencilled images including Donald Trump and Boris Johnson as babies.

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