A graffiti artist has been arrested after a stunt on a major Melbourne bridge that sparked an eight-hour-long standoff with police and caused delays for commuters.

Emergency services were called to the Bolte Bridge around 3am on Tuesday after reports a person had climbed up one of the 140-metre-high pillars.

It is alleged the man, dressed all in black, had climbed the pillar and then abseiled down it, spray-painting a giant Pam the Bird tag – a cartoon bird which has been illegally painted on Melbourne landmarks for years, often in hard-to-reach places.

An Instagram page, @pambirdofficial, shared videos that appeared to be from the top of the pillar with the hashtag #notcomingdown.

“Lower the taxes and drone me some f—en food! Let’s go boys and girls!” one post said.

In the same video, a man says: “I’m not coming down until they lower the taxes.”

The incident forced the closure of one lane of the bridge, and Victoria Police said early on Tuesday morning that they were negotiating with the man to get him down safely.

“He is refusing to follow police direction and come down,” they said, adding that water police units were involved.

The standoff ended when the man climbed back down the pillar. Photo: AAP

The standoff ended just after 11am, when the man climbed down without injury and surrendered.

Police did not name him, but said they had arrested a 22-year-old Yarraville man, who was being interviewed by investigators.

The Age and AAP identified him as Jack Gibson-Burrell, who is currently on bail over previous alleged offences related to Pam the Bird graffiti.

“A significant number of police resources were deployed to the location including uniform members, highway patrol officers, Critical Incident Response Team, Search & Rescue and Water Police,” Victoria Police said of the Bolte Bridge incident.

“The police priority was to get the man down safely.”

One video shared on social media showed feet dangling off the tower and many police below on the bridge as the man “flipped the bird” to officers.

The posts on @pambirdofficial did not specify which taxes the alleged graffiti artist wanted lowered.

In one post, the masked man demanded a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk, while in another he complained it was cold and he “wouldn’t mind a blankey”.

The Instagram page gained more than 29,000 followers during the morning, but by midday all the posts had been deleted.

Acting Inspector Darren Wallis  told AAP the standoff “drew a lot of police resources”, and it would cost a considerable amount to repair the damage caused to the bridge tower.

He thanked the public for staying away from the area during the police negotiations.

“It was a particularly precarious situation, quite dangerous to the accused person. It was difficult for us to negotiate that safe conclusion but we got it.”

Police have previously charged 22-year-old Jack Gibson-Burrell with 209 offences over the Pam the Bird graffiti, including reckless conduct endangering life or serious injury, criminal damage, theft and aggravated burglary.

Jack Gibson-Burrell’s alleged damage includes to heritage-listed Victorian landmarks.

Gibson-Burrell is accused of causing about $700,000 in damages, including to heritage-listed Victorian landmarks where he allegedly sprayed the tag.

This includes allegations he trespassed into Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station in July 2024 and abseiled up its famous clock tower to paint the bird on it.

He was granted bail in May ahead of a future trial in the County Court.

His bail conditions included complying with a nightly curfew at his Geelong address and to not possess abseiling or graffiti-related items.

–with AAP