The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Latest Banksy artwork stolen within an hour of its creation
Artist’s anti-war piece went up in Peckham yesterday morning before man with boltcutters took it away
A NEW Banksy artwork on a south London street was stolen within an hour of the artist verifying the piece as a genuine installation.
The artist confirmed he was behind the work – a traffic stop sign covered with three aircraft said to resemble military drones – in a social media post yesterday shortly after midday.
Two men were then seen using tools to take down the sign in Peckham at about 12.30pm.
The work was installed at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way, close to a zebra crossing, in the London borough of Southwark.
It is understood the piece was supposed to offer an anti-war critique amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the terror organisation Hamas.
The mysterious artist unveiled the new street art to his 12.1 million Instagram followers, many of whom commented speculating that it would be taken down “pronto” while a large number added “Free Palestine”.
Onlookers started shouting when a man tried to remove the installation in south London, witnesses have said.
One witness, who wanted to be referred to only as Alex, said: “This guy comes up and grabs it, we watched in awe as he bashed it.” Alex added: “He disappeared and went away and about two minutes later he reappeared with bolt cutters and just sort of tried and tried and tried while everyone was watching.
“We said, ‘what are you doing?’ but no one really knew what to do, we sort of just watched it happen.”
Representatives for Banksy said: “The removal was nothing to do with the artist and we do not know the details.”
It is not the first time Banksy’s work has been removed shortly after its creation. A mural weighing 3.8 tonnes called
appeared on the side of a house in Margate, Kent, on Valentine’s Day this year and was dismantled within hours of Banksy sharing photos of it online.
The mural depicted a 1950s’ housewife with a swollen eye and missing tooth, wearing an apron and yellow
‘This guy comes up and grabs it, we watched in awe as he bashed it. He then came with boltcutters’
washing-up gloves, and throwing a man into a chest freezer.
At the time the resident of the property where the painting was created, who asked not to be named, said the freezer and other items including a broken garden chair used for the artwork had been removed “very quickly” and put into a truck.
In September the mural was placed in the foyer of The Art of Banksy exhibition in Regent Street, central London, where it can be viewed for free.
The exhibition features pieces including
and and also focuses on Banksy’s Dismaland, The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem and recent works acknowledging the ongoing war in Ukraine.
An exhibition also opened at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art this year for a limited run and showcased 25 years of Banksy’s stencil graffiti.
The Metropolitan Police said they have so far not received any reports in relation to the sign being taken.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: “The Met is aware of an incident that occurred on Friday, 22 December, in relation to the removal of a road traffic sign in Commercial Way, Peckham.
“Our local authority partners were informed at the time and have since replaced the road sign to avoid endangering road users.
“We await any communication from the local authority as to whether they wish to report a crime.”