A portrait of the Queen defaced as it hung in Westminster Abbey has gone back on display four weeks after being sprayed with paint.

Artist Ralph Heimans who created the artwork said he was “thrilled” it was now on public view again.

The oil painting, titled The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, had been on display in the Chapter House for just a few weeks before it was vandalised last month.

The incident came a few weeks before another attack on Abbey artwork when a statue was sprayed with paint.

Westminster Abbey feels like the natural home for my portrait, and I’m glad to see it back where it belongs in this remarkable setting

Heimans said: “I am thrilled that the painting has been restored in good time and that it can be returned to public display as intended. Westminster Abbey feels like the natural home for my portrait, and I’m glad to see it back where it belongs in this remarkable setting.”

The Australian-born painter worked with the Abbey’s conservation team to remove the paint from the artwork, which went back on display yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the artist said: “There was a team to restore and clean the painting and Ralph Heimans had to come in and do some touching up.”

The painting itself measures 9ft by 11ft and depicts the monarch in the Sacrarium of Westminster Abbey, also known as the Coronation Theatre.

It was shown publicly for the first time in September by the Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

Heimans, who is based in London, had a sitting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace on March 21 last year, but the scene is an imagined one, set at night in Westminster Abbey.

Tim Haries, 41, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London last month charged with criminal damage to Heimans’ canvas. He was bailed to appear at the court again in September.