A WELL-RECOGNISED message commemorating the drowning of a Welsh village was spotted at the London Marathon over the weekend - next to a renowned athlete.

The words Cofiwch Dryweryn (Remember Tryweryn) were first painted at Llanrhystud near Aberystwyth in the 1960s.

They commemorated the flooding of the village of Capel Celyn, near Bala, which was drowned to provide water for Liverpool despite strong opposition.

On Sunday, Famed British Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farah was pictured running past a ‘Cofiwch Dryweryn’ banner during the London Marathon.

The sign had been placed near the Sun in the Sands pub, close to the starting point for the event’s 40,000 runners.

The image of Sir Mo running past the banner was shot by David Jones, a farmer originally from Aberystwyth.

It was posted to a ‘Cofiwch Dryweryn’ group by his wife Sioned Rees-Jones, who said she hoped that the picture could help bring “global recognition” to the story behind the words.

“We have a challenging target of a million speakers to reach and to secure a bright future for our language and culture we need to reach out,” she said.

“Hopefully a picture like this can help us spread the word globally.”

Over recent months, the mural in Llanrhystud has been targeted several times by vandals. In February, the wall on which the mural sits was defaced and replaced with the word ‘Elvis’.

The incident sparked anger from all over Wales and a group of six young people, including Grisial Hedd Roberts from Ruthin, decided to take matters into their own hands.

The 21-year-old Aberystwyth University helped re-paint the “Cofiwch Drwyeryn” slogan back onto the wall.

This month, a piece of the wall was knocked down. However, another group got together once more to restore it to its former glory.

Elfed Wyn Jones from Trawsfynydd has been campaigning to have the mural officially preserved by the Welsh Government.

“It’s an amazing feeling to see that the responsibility of fixing the mural hasn’t just fell on the shoulders of one group,” he said.

More than 100 Cofiwch Dryweryn murals have been created across Wales and as far afield as the USA since attacks on the original memorial took place.