AWO Near Miss 23-11 Safety Equipment Not Installed Correctly After Painting

Attempted to bring life rings down to be cleaned and remove paint that had gotten on them from recent painting.  The starboard side wheelhouse life ring would not budge, upon inspection we discovered that whoever mounted the bracket that holds the light for the life ring, drilled through the metal into the back of the life ring, preventing it from being accessible in the event of a MOB.