NDG's outdoor Alley Cat Gallery defaced by graffiti

An outdoor art gallery featuring images of cats in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grce neighbourhoodhas been vandalised with the kind of tagging that has plagued the area for years.

About eight of the artworks on display in the Alley Cat Gallery on Sherbrooke Streetnear Harvard Avenue were vandalized Thursday night with a scribbled signature.

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The founder of the gallery, John Jordan, says he didn't expect taggers to go after his artwork.

"It was very discouraging, you know. We took a big risk putting this stuff up," Jordan said.

The borough has tried to crack down on the problem.

In 2011, the Cte-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grce borough enacted a bylaw to fight the spread of graffiti.

Owners of commercial buildings that are larger than 300 square metres, or residential buildings with more than six units are expected to clean graffiti off their buildings or they could be fined up to $1400.

According to MelissaProiettifrom Montreal's Under Pressure Graffiti Festival, outdoor artworkisripe for tagging.

She says even the large murals on St-Laurent Boulevardfall victim to it.

"Public art issusceptibleto this,"Proiettisaid. "Once it's out there, it's not safe."

Jordan hasn't decided if he will clean up the works where the tags can be painted over, or if he will replace them.

"We're still sort of smarting from the loss of our prints."