A new Banksy featuring three military drones on a stop sign appeared stolen in plain sight on Friday — less than an hour after the incognito artist revealed it.
Two unidentified men were pictured openly using bolt cutters to break the latest artwork from a traffic pole in Peckham, south London on Friday evening, footage from the scene showed.
One of the men was seen balancing on a rented bike so he could reach the sign, while the other held it steady for him.
A man was spotted using bolt cutters to rip up Banksy’s latest artwork in south London on Friday. ZUMAPRESS.com The man was pictured standing on a rented bicycle to smash the artwork. ZUMAPRESS.com
The pair then quickly fled the area with the artwork as shocked witnesses shouted for them to stop.
The incident happened shortly after the elusive graffiti artist revealed the location of his latest work with a photo on Instagram just after 12.30pm local time.
“You know there’s a grandpa opening it up now ready to sell it on eBay,” one top commenter quickly replied, with “geezer” being used in the UK as a term for any man, not just an old man.
It is not clear whether the removal was part of a stunt organized by the mystery artist, who did not seem to address it.
London’s Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to a request for whether it was being investigated as a theft.
Witnesses said the man pulled the artwork down and immediately fled the area. ZUMAPRESS.com The incident happened shortly after the famous street artist revealed the location of his latest work in an Instagram post. ZUMAPRESS.com
A witness, known only as Alex, told the Evening Standard there were a few people “kind of admiring him and taking pictures” as the man approached.
“This guy came and took it, we watched in awe as he hit it. He put the Lime bike under the sign, stood on the Lime bike and tried to hit the sign, he hit it with his hand and it didn’t go anywhere,” he said.
“He fell off Lime’s bike at one point. He disappeared and left and about two minutes later he reappeared with a bolt cutter and just tried and tried and tried while everybody watched.”
The onlooker added: “He ripped it off and ran across the street and ran away. He didn’t say anything. He doesn’t seem to care much about the art itself.”
It is unclear whether the removal of the artwork was part of a stunt organized by the mysterious artist. ZUMAPRESS.com New Banksy artwork features three military drones emblazoned on a traffic stop sign. ZUMAPRESS.com
Social media users speculated that the red STOP sign artwork was linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Some even predict it will be stolen “pronto.”
“This sign will be stolen in the next few hours,” wrote one Instagram user shortly before the alleged theft.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
