Bears of Sheffield art trail targeted by anti-vaxxer vandals as QR codes are stuck onto the statues

The QR code stickers were spotted on at least two of Bears of Sheffield statues in the city centre yesterday. It meant that people who visited the bears and tried to take a picture of them were directed to the anti vaccination website.

Sunshine, Lollipops, which is the statue by Sheffield Cathedral, and Sheffield Allsorts, outside Sheffield Town Hall, both had QR stickers attached to them and it is understood several more were targeted.

The Bears of Sheffield campaign has placed 60 large and 100 small bears around the city to raise money for The Children’s Charity, to help build a new cancer ward at the city children’s hospital.

Cheryl Davidson, project manager for the Bears of Sheffield, told the Sheffield Telegraph: “Unfortunately, earlier this week we received reports on social media that several of our bears in the city centre had QR codes placed on them, which when scanned, directed users to an anti-vaccination website.

“Our volunteers removed the stickers as quickly as they could, and these are not in any way representative of the views of The Children’s Hospital Charity or any of our partners involved in the Bears of Sheffield.

“We would like to thank everyone who reported this so swiftly and encourage anyone who notices any other vandalism to the sculptures to reach out on social media or email us at [email protected]”.