Banksy
Investigators called to find a couple who ran away with the artwork an hour after it was confirmed as real
Detectives are investigating the theft of a Banksy street sign worth up to £500,000, which was stolen in London less than an hour after it was confirmed it was a real installation.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that CID officers were trying to track down the perpetrators after a council in southeast London asked them to help locate the stolen artwork.
The street art – a red stop sign with three military drones on it – appeared on the corner of Commercial Way in Peckham on Friday morning – just after midday Banksy confirmed its credentials.
Shortly afterwards, however, two men with bolt cutters showed up to carry out a brazen theft and made no attempt to hide their identities as witnesses filmed them.
The footage shows them ripping the sign off the post before one of the men ran away with the artwork.
The Met said: “We have received a report of theft and inquiries are ongoing. This incident is currently being investigated by officers from the Met's Central South Criminal Investigation Department. There have been no arrests at this time.”
Police said anyone who could help or knew the whereabouts of the valuable shield should call police on “101 quoting reference number 5742/22dec”.
Earlier on Saturday, Southwark Council's Jasmine Ali said: “I'm confident they will get it back. “We're not just talking about a street sign, it's a piece of art that's been put there for the community.”
“It’s street art and it’s for the people,” she said.
It also emerged that the municipality had already replaced the traffic sign to avoid possible traffic accidents.
Ulrich Blanché, a street art expert at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, believes that the placement of the “Commercial Way” installation near a funeral home along with the drones – which appear to be military reapers – is a criticism of the global arms trade suggests. Many of Banksy's Instagram followers interpreted his latest work as a call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
A gallery owner said the artwork could be worth up to £500,000. John Brandler, whose Essex gallery sells Banksy's work, said: 'It could easily be higher. The media attention has made it even more valuable.”
Similar drone art appeared in Banksy's Walled Off hotel in Bethlehem in 2017, which he said had “the worst view of any hotel in the world” – referring to Israel's controversial wall in the West Bank.
The artist has installed other works this year, including Valentine's Day Mascara, a 3.8 tonne mural that was installed on the side of a house in Margate, Kent.
It showed a 1950s housewife with a swollen eye and missing tooth, wearing an apron and yellow dishwashing gloves, throwing a man into a freezer.
In September it was installed in the foyer of The Art of Banksy exhibition in central London, where it can be viewed free of charge.
{{#Ticker}}
{{top left}}
{{bottom left}}
{{top right}}
{{bottom right}}
{{#goalExceededMarkerPercentage}}{{/goalExceededMarkerPercentage}}{{/ticker}}
{{Headline}}
{{#paragraphs}}
{{.}}
{{/paragraphs}}{{highlightedText}}
{{#choiceCards}}
One-time, monthly, yearly
Other
{{/choiceCards}}We will be in touch to remind you to contribute. Watch for a message in your inbox. If you have any questions about contributing, please contact us.