The fans thought the bus belonged to Middlesbrough prior to the clash between the teams on Saturday.

The fans painted 'Crystal Palace FC' across the sides and back of the bus.

The vandalism occurred hours before Palace secured a 1-0 win which got them out of the relegation zone.

Crystal Palace used the bus to transport the team anyway and confirmed police had been notified.

"The team bus was covered in graffiti with the words 'Crystal Palace' overnight on Friday ahead of the game on Saturday. Police have been informed," a spokesman told the Sun Sport.

Palace's assistant head groundsman Dean Waters tweeted:

"40,000 pounds worth of damage on our coach thinking it was the Boro coach. Nice one! #cpfc," Waters tweeted, before changing his privacy settings so that the post was no longer available to the public.

IMAGE: An image of the vandalised bus shared on Twitter. Photo: Jack Willis/Twitter/@onlypassing