Transport for London (TfL) has removed an artwork by Banksy from a railway bridge on Brick Lane due to concerns over it encouraging “anti-social activity”.
The piece of art, featuring three monkeys, was washed away unannounced overnight last Wednesday.
“There are rules in place around graffiti or unauthorised art on the TfL network and there are good reasons why these must be followed. Sometimes graffiti or unauthorised art can attract more graffiti, which encourages trespassing and anti-social activity that poses a danger to the operational railway and customers, so this piece had to be removed,” A Transport for London spokesperson said.
A glass cover was initially placed over Banksy’s Brick Lane instalment when it first appeared in the summer, suggesting it was to become a permanent fixture. However, City AM witnessed a group of workers dissembling the artwork on Wednesday night and jet washing it away.
When asked at the scene, the workers said they had been told to remove the mural but did not know why.
Tower Hamlets Council said they were not aware of the removal at the time.
Replying to a post about the removal on X, Shoreditch Street Art Tours called the act an “unnecessary and inexplicable cultural desecration”.
“They went from protecting it under perspex to buffing it – in their confusion and bewilderment they decide it’s best to spoil so many people’s pleasure by cleaning it.”
TfL also removed a piece of graffiti by Banksy from inside a tube carriage in 2020, with the cleaning crew unaware at the time it had been done by the famous street artist.
“It was treated like any other graffiti on the network,” a TfL source told the BBC at the time.
The monkeys mural formed one of nine Banksy pieces that appeared in London over the summer, which included a goat in Kew, a pair of pelicans above a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow and a City of London police sentry box painted with piranhas on Ludgate Hill.
The sentry box was removed by authorities shortly after it appeared, with the City of London Corporation saying it had been moved to ensure it was “properly protected”. Separately, a big cat which appeared on a billboard in Cricklewood was removed the same week due to safety concerns.
Two other pieces – a wolf in Peckham and a rhino in Charlton – are believed to have been stolen, while London Zoo replaced their stencilled shutter with a vinyl reproduction in order to “properly preserve” the original piece.
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