Love Live! Sunshine!! fans were heartbroken to find out that sometime in the late night hours between 5th and 6th June 2018, a meanspirited vandal spraypainted the special Aqours manhole covers that doted the streets of Numazu. Twitter users @llllnumazullll and @Rinyuukai shared a video and photos of the damage.

Reports were allegedly already filed with the local police. An attempt to clean up the mess was also shown on social media. However given the nature of spraypaint, nothing short of a sandblaster can strip the damage. Chemical solvents may also help, but both methods will require repainting of the manhole covers after cleaning.

The small seaside town of Numazu is the setting for the highly popular Love Live! Sunshine!! media franchise, and it has enjoyed an increase in both local and overseas visitors thanks to the title. The local government has even collaborated with the show to further increase tourism to the area, however it seems that not everyone was all sunshine and butterflies with the anime’s notoriously loyal fanbase.