Hi We have a similar issue on our 1910 brick home where the old mudroom was attached to the back of the house. We've rebuilt the mudroom and the new flashing mostly hides the old tar, but where you can see it on the old roofline we've had to try and chip it off with a chisel. You have to be careful because it actually takes pieces of the brick with it, but it does get it off. We've decided to leave most of it as we have paint on our bricks and sandstone on other parts of the house which we're planning on having CO2'd off sometime in the next few years. Sandblasting is too harsh on old brick. If your brick is now inside (ours is outside) you can still go with a blasting-type removal (can't remember the name of it but it is for interior use), but it's probably better to chip as much as you can and then try to hide it in some way as suggested above - a shelf or wreath, maybe some decorative wood trim. Other than that, paint is your next solution. Oh, and just so you know, you can't get it out of the mortar without digging into it and ruining it (which is why we're now waiting to blast it off with the rest of brick paint and repoint). You might want to try asking the Old House forum as well.

Thanks! I did take the pictures to a professional & he said the ink is from a fountain pen & that due to the age of the pictures etc. it wasn't safe to try to remove the ink, that it would do more harm than good. So, I will have to have them restored. Thanks for your help!

I scraped the ones I could without chipping the brick. I used Concrete Paint Dye and a small sponge the color of the brick ... or the color of the mortar (depending on where the drip was) and dabbed the dye on the white spots -- 2 passes. It has held up two seasons (granted it is under an eaves/overhang). Anyway ... removal or cover-up are the options I struggled with and the cover up was way easier.

Acetone removes caulk but u need to use a utility knives shave off as much as possible if its thick but If its just thin then acetone n scotch no scratch pad should come right off