Thieves steal artist's prints aimed at cheering up residents during coronavirus crisis

It started with the best of intentions – for a street artist to give something back to a community going through hard times.

But when east London based Stik hit on the idea of distributing one of his most famous designs to every household in his borough for free, he didn't take into account the mean-spirited nature of someone apparently involved in the scheme.

Without his knowledge, hundreds of the prints were stolen and put on sale online, in direct conflict with the original spirit of the project.

Now Scotland Yard detectives are investigating who stole copies of the 50cm x 50cm poster of Stik's 2016 work "Holding Hands".

Around 1,000 unsuspecting buyers, mortified that what they paid for had been intended for free distribution, have since returned their copies of the print. But thousands remain unaccounted for, with copies being sold on a number of auction sites, including a full set of the teal, blue, red, orange or yellow prints for £7,000.

Stik, 41, who paid for the printing and distribution out of his own pocket, said: "These artworks were intended as a gift to the people of Hackney. Ay which are returned will be redistributed to those who missed out."

The project began when Stik, whose distinctive work fetches upwards of £150,000 at auction, teamed up with Hackney Council to print and distribute 100,000 copies of the print to residents via the monthly issue of the council-issued Hackney Today newspaper.

After all his fellow residents have gone through with Covid-19 and lockdown, Stik's intention was for every household in Hackney to have a single copy of the poster as a gift to either keep or sell.

The prints, created to celebrate the installation of his "Holding Hands" sculpture in Hoxton Square, were delivered to the distributor on September 19 for inclusion in the paper's edition later that month. But while some residents reported being delighted to receive the paper with its copy of the print, it soon became clear that a large number had not received theirs.

Stik's studio then noticed that there appeared to be large batches being sold online. The matter was raised with Hackney Council and reported to police, who launched an investigation.

Detectives now suspect the prints were stolen by someone involved in the production or distribution process.

DC James Readman, of the Central East Command Unit, said: "The artist began this project as a gift to the people of Hackney and paid a substantial amount of money out of his own pocket to meet the cost of printing.

"While some residents happily received theirs, many thousands of others were left very disappointed. We are working with the artist and Hackney Council to identify what happened. It appears at this stage that, somewhere along the supply and distribution chain, boxes containing thousands of copies of the print have been taken without permission and sold on.

"I urge anyone who has information as to the whereabouts of large quantities of the missing prints to make contact with us, so that we can right this wrong and help ensure they end up with the people that were intended to receive them."

A spokesman for Hackney Council said: "Stik's posters were intended as a gift for Hackney's residents after months of huge uncertainty and challenge. It is therefore disappointing to learn that an individual or group of individuals has chosen to steal them for personal gain.

"This has left residents who missed out upset, and we are grateful to Stik and to everyone who has worked hard on the delivery of these posters . We will do all we can to have them returned."

The artist, whose identity is kept secret, bases his work loosely on the Kanji Japanese calligraphy characters. His works hang in the private collections of stars including Elton John, Bono and Chris Martin. His Brick Lane street painting, "A Couple Hold Hands in the Street", was recently named one of Britain's 20 favourite works of art.

In June, a charity fundraising installation by Stik was unveiled on the Piccadilly Circus advertising lights, the largest public screen in Europe, depicting a group of young people holding hands as a symbol of hope during the coronavirus lockdown.