But it seems police saw Birmingham-born artist Mohammed Ali's work rather differently, after they removed one of his murals, apparently for fear it would trigger racial violence.
Last night, Mr Ali accused officers of 'wanton censorship' after they removed the mural, which protested against Israeli attacks in Gaza.
'Highlighting the suffering': Mohammed Ali's anti-war murals have been scrubbed by Birmingham council over their content
Police allegedly told the elderly Muslim woman who owned the property where the 'Free Gaza' mural was displayed that it could even trigger a petrol bomb attack on her home, leaving her 'scared stiff', according to her family.
Mr Ali, 30, won the Arts Council's diversity award at the ITV South Bank Show awards last month, and his work has been compared to the paramilitary murals in Northern Ireland, which have become tourist attractions, drawing in coachloads of visitors.
Mr Ali, from King's Heath, Birmingham, said he was 'troubled' that anybody could interpret his murals as being offensive.
The father of one said: 'The murals are not racist or homophobic and they do not incite violence but the police implied that they could stir up trouble and trigger violence between Jews and Muslims.
'I paint about things I feel strongly about.
Mr Ali is unhappy at the action taken by the council, saying his work has never been divisive
'For the last six years my murals have been about bringing communities together - Jews, Christians and Muslims - but I am also strongly against war and that is why I am highlighting the suffering that the conflict has caused in Gaza.
'It is ludicrous to suggest that these paintings could be divisive.'
The Alum Rock mural - one of five in the Birmingham area, all installed with the permission of the properties' owners - was sandblasted away by council workmen earlier this month at the request of West Midlands Police.
Mr Ali then requested a meeting with the force, who he says told him the decision was taken to remove the image following a 'risk assessment' they had carried out.
The force had approached the homeowner, a 79-year-old woman who lives there with her three sons, and asked her to rescind perbasis-mission for the mural and sign a form authorising its removal.
One of the sons, Mohammed Azam, a driving instructor, said: 'The police arrived out of the blue and told my mother that the house could be petrol-bombed because of the mural - my mother is scared stiff.
'I asked them on what a risk assessment was carried out, and the officer at the police station told me his sergeant had seen the mural and decided it should come down.'
Mr Ali's cause has also received the backing of local Jewish bodies.
Ruth Jacobs, of the Israel Information Centre in Birmingham, a public relations office set up to promote Israel and Jewish culture and working in conjunction with the Israeli embassy, said: 'I would not complain about these images because I see them as part of the right to free speech in this country.
'They are actually quite good pieces of art.
'If the building owners are happy for them to be there, that's all that matters.'
Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, who has worked with police in an effort to tackle extremist behaviour in Birmingham, said he was 'concerned' by
the police's behaviour.
He said: ' The murals are expressive and show the emotion of young people about what is going on in Gaza.
'The police need to clearly demonstrate that these murals have put somebody at risk.'
Tariq Khan, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Washwood Health, which includes Alum Rock, said police claims that the mural may trigger a bomb attack were 'outrageous'.
A West Midlands Police spokesman refused to comment on Mr Ali's allegations that the mural was removed following a 'risk assessment', and that the householder had been warned of the threat of a petrol bomb attack.
The force said in a statement: 'Although having given initial consent for the painting, the householder later had reservations about it and sought police and local authority assistance to remove it.'
A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said the authority had received no other complaints about the mural.
He added that, as with any graffiti, action would be taken against the other murals - painted on shop walls - only if the authority received a complaint.
Source: MailOnline
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