Michael Sheen's anger over mural demolition Hollywood actor Michael Sheen has strongly criticised Newport council which "destroyed" a mural celebrating the 1839 Chartist uprising in south Wales. The star, who was born in Newport, has written a letter to the South Wales Argus to say: "The political system has let us down." The city's council demolished the 35m (115ft) mosaic earlier this month to make way for a £100m shopping centre, prompting protests. The council said moving the mural might not have worked. The diggers moved in to tear down the artwork in a subway off John Frost Square on 3 October, a fortnight after Welsh heritage body Cadw declined to list the mosaic. The council's chief executive Will Godfrey later apologised for not giving councillors advance warning that the mural would be demolished. As workmen chipped away at the mosaic, which was created in 1978, protesters who were alerted to the work staged an impromptu protest. It was followed by a demonstration of about 200 people the following day who were angry at the council's actions. Sheen, star of films including Frost / Nixon, The Queen and the Twilight series, has now written an open letter to the South Wales Argus. In it, he urges people to "stand up for certain values and freedoms and ideals when they come under attack, whether through greed, malice, ignorance or sheer stupidity." He said he felt compelled to write for a number of reasons. "Firstly, the vicious irony of something that was created to celebrate those who risked much for the good of all, being wiped out without consulting the people themselves, and under the auspices of a Labour led city council serving the needs of profit above all else, is both absurd as well as tragic," he said. That so little was done, or was able to be done, by us, in order to stop this from happening, brings shame to us all. He also urged action to ensure that the Chartist movement was not forgotten in the city, urging the community to come together with ideas to replace the mural. "Having done something similar when working on The Passion [a three-day open air play with the community in Port Talbot] a few years ago, I was amazed and inspired by the vision, commitment and resourcefulness of the design students I worked with," he added. Looking for found materials to work with, along with as much of the original destroyed mural as can be salvaged, could connect the past with the present in a grounded and economical way perhaps. He concluded: "I hope we can make the Chartists proud." The council has said it is looking at options to replace the mural, which depicted a fatal confrontation between democracy protesters and troops at Newport's Westgate Hotel in 1839 In his letter earlier this month, Mr Godfrey said he had attempted to contact local media to alert them about the demolition. He went on: "Officers have advised the appropriate cabinet member that consultation should commence as soon as possible. Newport council has been asked to comment on the Hollywood star's letter.