More love. Love more. Walking through the Oak Bluffs Cultural District, these friendly reminders now greet pedestrians as they go about their days.

Peter Mallen and Henry Judd, the masterminds behind the art attack, with their dog Lyla. — Jeanna Shepard

Oak Bluffs couple Peter Mallen and Harry Judd displayed these peaceful messages on 52 heart-felt art designs throughout the Oak Bluffs Cultural District last week as a part of their ArtAttack/OB project. Screwing 9 x 12-inch canvas designs into telephone polls, the couple planned their project in response to recent terrorist attacks across the world. They decided to act immediately after the Pulse Nightclub shootings in Orlando, Fla., validating a sense of urgency in their mission.

“Our whole goal was to counteract the discouragement that people might feel right now,” explained Mr. Mallen. “Be kind, just be kind.”

Mr. Mallen created the oil and stencil designs by hand at his Oak Bluffs home studio over a two-week period. The canvases have three distinct designs inspired by street art. Every canvas features a basic heart symbol, alternating between the inscriptions “more love” and “love more.” Some display only a heart.

Girls on the beach are feeling the movement. — Jeanna Shepard

Using a ladder and a power drill, Mr. Judd hung the artwork over a two-night period.

“Everyone was very receptive on the nights I was doing it,” said Mr. Judd. The couple received endless support for their efforts on social media outlets Facebook and Instagram. “Everyday there are at least three to five people taking pictures of them.”

Mr. Mallen and Mr. Judd regularly split their time between Cohasset and the Vineyard. Mr. Judd brought Mr. Mallen to the Island for the first time in 1974, a year after beginning their relationship.

A former scientific illustrator and graphic artist for the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, Mr. Mallen still dedicates many hours of his week creating new sculptures, prints and oil paintings in his studio. He regularly displays his artwork in exhibits spanning the globe from Japan to Cape Cod.

Both men love traveling throughout the world, and worried people might stop traveling in response to the terrorist attacks.

“We both felt really strongly that we should do something,” said Mr. Mallen, who launched the ArtAttack/OB project without the town of Oak Bluffs’ permission.

Fifty-two designs have been posted around Oak Bluffs. — Jeanna Shepard

“We wanted to do it, we were willing to take whatever consequences there were,” he added.

The couple plans to remove the art from the telephone poles on September 11. They want to respect those who died during the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

Any surviving artwork will be donated to charity.

Encouraged by the community’s positive feedback, the couple wants to bring their message of peace to Provincetown. Their next initiative, dubbed the ArtAttack/Provincetown project, focuses on gender equality and equal pay. Mr. Mallen plans to launch the project around the same time as his next art exhibit at the Gallery Voyeur in Provincetown on October 12 to 19.