Back in May the popular Vilnius barbeque joint Keulė Rūkė got a makeover that quickly captured the attention of the world. Local creative Mindaugas Bonanu painted a six-foot mural of Putin and Trump making out on the rear wall of the restaurant, along with the phrase “make everything great again”.

Photo credit: Keulė Rūkė

On Friday Keulė Rūkė’s owner Dominykas Čečkauskas revealed on social media that the mural had been covered with white paint, describing the incident as a “terrorising attack on freedom of speech” rather than an act of “simple vandalism”.

The mural referenced the iconic 1979 photo of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Hoenecker passionately locking lips; an image that was painted on a section of the Berlin Wall in 1990.

My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love – Dmitri Vrubel

“We saw similarities between the two heroes” (Putin and Trump), said Čečkauskas in an interview with the Baltic News Service. “They both have an ego that is too big, and it is funny that they get along well. We are in a sort of a Cold War again, and America may get a president who will want to be friends with Russia.”

Although we don’t yet know who the white-paint wielders are, the destruction of the mural comes at a time of growing tension between Russia and Ukraine. And Ukraine is mates with Lithuania, if you get our drift…

Čečkauskas promised that the mural will be repainted: “We will accept the challenge without fear and we will continue defending freedom of speech, freedom of Vilnius and freedom of Lithuania.” We suspect Hillary will be delighted.

Photo credit: BONANU

Opening photo credit: Keulė Rūkė