A group of people were arrested after attempting to steal a work by the street artist who was signing several drawings in support of Ukrainians in the conflict between them and Russia.
Several people have been arrested following an attempted theft of a Banksy artwork in the Ukrainian town of Hostomel, near Kyiv, Sky News reported on Friday.
The part of the wall that featured this street art drawing, a tribute to the country hurt by the Russian invasion, had been detached, but the image is intact and was confiscated by the police.
“Symbols of the fight against the enemy”
British media reports that the suspects were seen cutting through graffiti, which showed a woman in a bathrobe with curlers and a fire extinguisher.
Mystery street artist Banksy, whose identity was never revealed, confirmed in November that he had signed seven works, including this one, in areas hit by Russian strikes. “In solidarity with the Ukrainian people,” he wrote in a video featuring the drawings.
“After all, these pictures are symbols of our fight against the enemy,” said the governor of the province of Kyiv, Oleksiy Kuleba, after the attempted robbery of the curler. “We will do everything we can to preserve these street artworks as symbols of our victory.”
Banksy’s works can reach tens of millions on the art market. In March 2021, one of his stencils was auctioned off for £16.75m ($25m) to benefit UK healthcare.
And his works interest the black market: last June, eight men were convicted after stealing a Bataclan door adorned with a Banksy drawing in honor of the victims of November 13th.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
VIDEO – Italy: Police present Banksy’s work stolen from the Bataclan in 2019