Banksy has confirmed his latest work is three drones graffitied onto a ‘stop’ sign in the London district of Peckham – and it’s already been removed not long after the artist confirmed it as authentic on his Instagram.
The artwork, which many have taken to be a comment on the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, was situated at the intersection of Commercial Way and Southampton way in the Southwark area, before two men were pictured removing the sign from its post and taking it away.
One man had to stand on a rented Lime bike to prize the sign from its mount.
A 26-year-old man who witnessed the incident, and asked only to be referred to as Alex, told the PA news agency: “There were about two people there when I got there. We were all sort of admiring it and taking pictures.
“This guy comes up and grabs it. We watched in awe as he bashed it.
“He put the Lime bike under the sign, stood on the Lime bike and tried to hit the sign. He hit it with his hands and it wasn’t going anywhere.
“He fell off the Lime bike at one point. He disappeared and went away and about two minutes later he reappeared with bolt-cutters and just sort of tried and tied while everyone was watching.
“We said, ‘what are you doing’, but no one really knew what to do. We sort of just watched it happen.”
He went on to add that car horns sounded as the man carried out the deed, before running across the road and fleeing the scene.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman is quoted as saying they haven’t received any reports in relation to the incident.
“Any victim who wishes to report a crime should call 101 or contact us online,” he said.
Over on Instagram, some commenters predicted the artwork would be taken down not long after Banksy posted pictures of the piece.
“You know there’s a geezer unbolting that right now ready to sell it on eBay,” the top comment, with more than 4,600 likes, reads.
Another wrote: “That’s [sic] sign will be snatched pronto.”
Banksy has created and sold art in opposition to war and conflict, including pieces in Ukraine and a “modified nativity set” for the Walled Off Hotel in Palestine.
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