Owners of Yours and Owls are under orders to repaint the wall its original grey colour by Monday, or have it done for them - at a cost of $1100.

The bar’s owners say they would like to replace the mural with three panels, to be regularly repainted by different artists, but the landlord has been silent on their request since December, instead repeatedly ordering it be returned to grey. The building is owned by the Sargents Charitable Foundation - the 15-year-old altruistic arm of Sargents Pies.

The Mercury requested interviews with a Sargents representative, and with Colliers agent Peter Mitchell, but had no reply.

Yours and Owls co-owner Balunn Jones conceded the wall was painted without permission and that the partly graffiti-style work would not be to everyone’s taste. He argued that having some kind of artwork on the wall was in line with the aspirations of both the artistic community and civic leaders to create a more vibrant city centre.

‘‘We’re not purposefully trying to be antagonistic. This is what a lot of people from Wollongong want,’’ Mr Jones said. ‘‘We’ve got this mob from Sydney saying they don’t want it here, and they don’t even see the place.’’

The mural was created in December and soon after, the landlord asked that it be removed.

The business owners - Mr Jones, Adam Smith and Ben Tillman, all aged 24 - say they had a discussion with the agent and submitted a proposal to retain the non-graffiti part of the work and install changing panels, mimicking those at Wollongong City Gallery.

‘‘We were under the impression that until we received feedback regarding this proposal ... nothing needed to happen,’’ Mr Jones said, adding he was instructed again in January to remove the mural, with no reply to the proposal.

The silence was frustrating, he said, because the landlord had also withheld approval for a development application, prepared since September, for outdoor seating and changes that would increase the gallery’s capacity from 50 to 80.

‘‘This has resulted in an inability to undertake any action to try and improve our business,’’ Mr Jones said.

On Tuesday the owners received a third request, with a painting company’s quote, seen by the Mercury, for $1100.

More than 2000 Facebook users have ‘‘liked’’ the proposal to make the wall a public exhibition space.