A woman in the Cardiff, Wales, was recently cut by a razor that was taped to the back of a "masks don't work" sign.
According to ITV News in Britain, the woman, who was identified only as Layla, said that the incident occurred on Tuesday when she attempted to remove a sign from a street corner in Cardiff that said "masks don't work."
While speaking with BBC, Layla said noticed a sign that was "professing anti-COVID rubbish" near Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff and decided to replace it with something different.
BBC reported that Layla is a sticker artist and she said that one of the reasons she creates the stickers is to "fight the tide of misinformation."
When she attempted to replace the sign with "something better," she was cut by a razor blade that was taped on the back side. Layla told BBC that she was in "disbelief" after sustaining a "thoroughly deep cut" from the razor blade and received medical attention shortly after the incident.
"I thought that blades behind stickers was an urban myth and I couldn't believe it actually happened to me," Layla told BBC.
After the incident, Layla posted pictures on social media showing her hand and the sign, which read, "Masks don't work" as well as "Masks—a visual prop to drive fear & prolong the 'pandemic'."
Layla told BBC that after posting the pictures of her hand and the sign on social media, she received a wide array of different reactions. While some said they hoped her hand healed soon, she told BBC that others "have said I 'deserve it—you should eat the razor blade' and some people have said I have lied about it."
"My feeling on that is if you want to say something and put it on a sticker, I'm not going to stop you, but don't make it so that it's going to hurt somebody," Layla told BBC. "That could have been a child."
In the U.K. masks are not required by law in most outdoor places but numerous scientific studies have shown that mask wearing helps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
While speaking with ITV News, Layla said that after contracting COVID-19 twice already, she was inclined to remove the "masks don't work" sign.
"I see all of this misinformation about 'it's just like the flu', it's completely wrong," Layla told ITV. "By people spreading these posters and stickers it's going to lead to more people getting coronavirus."
ITV reported that Layla informed the South Wales Police Department of the incident shortly after. A spokesperson for the South Wales Police Department confirmed the incident to ITV and said that anyone with information regarding the incident should come forward.
Newsweek reached out to the South Wales Police Department for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
