Stolen Banksy ‘Girl with Balloon’ painting found

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The work features a young girl reaching for a red heart-shaped balloon and there are several murals depicting the same image in London and elsewhere.

The painting was the only item stolen on Sept. 8, police said, adding it would be returned to the gallery.

The two men, aged 47 and 53, were charged with burglary on Thursday and remain in police custody.

They have already appeared in court where they were bailed, and will next appear before a judge on Oct. 9.

Court documents listed the work with a value of  £270,000, according to the BBC.

The “Girl with Balloon” first appeared on the streets of London’s Shoreditch neighbourhood in 2002, with Banksy creating versions of the painting on London’s South Bank in 2004 and at Israel’s barrier at the West Bank in 2005.

Banksy rose to fame for sharply ironic outdoor graffiti with political themes. Once a small-time graffiti artist from the English city of Bristol, his art work has become hugely popular and valuable. His true identity has never been revealed.  Bansky ‘claims’ his works, differentiating them from mimics, by posting works on a dedicated Instagram account.

The artist’s most recent works featured a selection of animals that appeared in different and unexpected spots around London, culminating in a work outside London Zoo. Earlier this year a new artwork used green paint sprayed across the side of a building to mimic the foliage of a real, heavily pruned tree that stood a few metres in front of it.

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