Yahoo News Man arrested over alleged theft of Banksy artwork from junction in Peckham
A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged theft of a Banksy art installation in south-east London.
The piece of street art – a traffic stop sign covered with three aircraft resembling military drones – was revealed at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham at midday on Friday.
Less than an hour after Banksy confirmed it was genuine by posting a photo of it on social media, witnesses saw the artwork being removed by a man with bolt cutters.
On Saturday, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said a man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. The stop sign has been replaced to avoid endangering road users, police confirmed.
Jasmine Ali, the deputy leader of Southwark council, has called for the piece to be returned so “everyone in the community can enjoy Banksy’s brilliant work”.
Onlookers ‘watched in awe’
Ms Ali said: “Of course Banksy picked Peckham, it’s already on the map when it comes to art and is a hotbed for creativity.
“It should not have been removed and we’d like it back so everyone in the community can enjoy Banksy’s brilliant work. We have reported the removal of our sign to the police to help get it back.”
A man who witnessed the removal of the artwork said onlookers “watched in awe” as a man “bashed it with his hands”.
The witness, who wanted to be referred to only as Alex, said the man tried to hit the artwork with his hands before leaving and returning with bolt cutters.
Alex, 26, added: “We said, ‘What are you doing?’ but no-one really knew what to do, we sort of just watched it happen. We were all a bit bemused, there was some honking of car horns. He ripped it off and ran across the road and ran away.
“He said nothing. He didn’t seem to care that much about the art itself.”
Photos from the scene show a man wearing a red and black jacket using a Lime bike to prop himself up, with one foot placed on the saddle and the other on the handle bars, while the bike is held steady by another man.
Margate mural was dismantled
A further image shows the man in red and black running in front of a white van with the stop sign after successfully managing to remove it.
It is understood that Banksy is not behind the removal, and this is not the first time the artist’s work has been removed shortly after its installation.
A mural weighing 3.8 tons called Valentine’s Day Mascara appeared on the side of a house in Margate, Kent, on Valentine’s Day this year and was dismantled some hours later after Banksy had shared a series of photos of it online.
The mural depicted a 1950s housewife with a swollen eye and missing tooth, wearing an apron and yellow washing-up gloves, and throwing a man into a chest freezer.
In September, the mural was placed in the foyer of The Art Of Banksy exhibition in Regent Street.
The free exhibition features pieces including Girl With Balloon, Flower Thrower and Rude Copper, and also focuses on Banksy’s Dismaland, The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem and recent works acknowledging the ongoing war in Ukraine.
