A man suspected of stealing a Banksy piece depicting three military drones at a stop sign, less than an hour after the elusive artist unveiled it, was arrested in London on Saturday.
A man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of robbery and criminal damage, Metropolitan Police said.
He will remain in custody while investigations are carried out, authorities added.
The unidentified man and his cohort were photographed on Friday afternoon using bolt cutters to tear the anti-war artwork from a traffic pole in the Peckham district, less than an hour after the piece was discovered.
One of the men was seen balancing on a rented bicycle in order to reach the sign, while the other man held the bicycle for him.
The man who cut down the sign quickly ran away with it in his hand as shocked onlookers shouted at the couple to stop.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of stealing Banksy’s latest art installation. ZUMAPRESS.com
The incident occurred just after the anonymous graffiti artist revealed the location of his latest work with photos of it on Instagram around 12:30 local time.
A witness, identified only as Alex, told the Evening Standard that there were a handful of people “admiring it and taking photographs” when the robbers approached.
“This guy walks up and grabs him, we watch in amazement as he hits him. “He put Lime’s bike under the sign, stood on Lime’s bike and tried to hit the sign, hit it with his hands and it wasn’t going anywhere,” he said.
The man detained was about 20 years old, authorities said. ZUMAPRESS.com
“He fell off the Lime bike at one point. She disappeared and left and about two minutes later she reappeared with a bolt cutter and just tried and tried and tried while everyone watched.”
The onlooker added: “He ripped it off, ran across the street and ran away. He said nothing. He didn’t seem to care much about the art itself.”
Jasmine Ali, deputy director of the local municipal council, asked for the piece to be returned.
Shortly after, authorities put a new stop sign in its place. AP
“It shouldn’t have been removed and we would like to get it back so everyone in the community can enjoy Banksy’s brilliant work,” Ali said.
Social media users speculated that the red artwork on the STOP sign was related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine amid calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The stop sign has since been replaced.
Banksy’s artwork can fetch a lot of money on the resale market: a semi-destroyed piece sold for around $25 million at auction in 2018.
With mail cables.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn