Dec 22, 2023 10:13 PM
(This post was last modified: Dec 22, 2023 10:21 PM by Magical Realist.)
https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/22/moment-ma...l9dEtAXzf8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkt-gKrJIq0
"This is the moment a man brazenly unbolted a stop sign with a Banksy piece on it within an hour of the famous artist confirming it was genuine.
Footage shows the man, wearing a red jacket and black trousers, climbing onto a Lime Bike to rip down the sign with bolt cutters in south London on Friday afternoon.
Another man, who appears to be an accomplice, was stood next to him as he yanked the spray painted sign off a pole at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham.
The video was taken at around 12.30pm.
Banksy had only confirmed the work – which is of three aircraft said to resemble military drones – was his on social media an hour before.
It’s not the first time Banksy’s work has been at the centre of controversy or caused a stir.
This time last year, eight people were arrested in Ukraine after they were accused of stealing the iconic artist’s graffiti from a wall.
Painted on a building damaged by Russian bombs, the stencil image of a woman in a nightgown and gas mask holding a fire extinguisher went missing from the city of Hostomel, near Kyiv.
In 2021, one of Banksy’s pieces was also removed from the side of a building in Nottinghamshire and sold on to a gallery for a ‘six-figure’ sum.
One onlooker who watched the drama unfold in the capital today said: ‘He arrived the first time, the bloke, and tried to climb up to the sign and then couldn’t quite knock it, the sign, of its hinges, just with his hand.
‘So then he went away and then came back with a pair of bolt cutters and climbed up on the bike.
‘He fell off the first time. Then his mate steadied the bike and then he climbed back up again and just bashed the sign off the hinges and then ran off.’
He added: ‘As soon as it (the art piece) went up online a few people cycled down to it to see it straight away and just sort of hung around.
‘When he started trying to knock it off a few people were shouting for him to stop but he just carried on and that’s when he realised he couldn’t get it off with just his hands and had to get some bolt cutters.’
Another witness said he was ‘surprised’ the art had appeared and that it would have been ‘nice if it stayed there for a while’.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘I was crossing the road and somebody there said “look” and told me what was happening.
‘There were four or five of us taking pictures of this guy on the bike, this man wanted to get hold of the sign.
‘At one point he went away and he came back with a tool and then he completed the work and went away. Apparently the tool remained there, he left it on the wall.
‘I was surprised to see it, I took a picture of the sign, but I didn’t want to take a picture of the guy.
‘It is strange, these pieces of art are nice, it would be nice if it had stayed there for a while.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkt-gKrJIq0
"This is the moment a man brazenly unbolted a stop sign with a Banksy piece on it within an hour of the famous artist confirming it was genuine.
Footage shows the man, wearing a red jacket and black trousers, climbing onto a Lime Bike to rip down the sign with bolt cutters in south London on Friday afternoon.
Another man, who appears to be an accomplice, was stood next to him as he yanked the spray painted sign off a pole at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham.
The video was taken at around 12.30pm.
Banksy had only confirmed the work – which is of three aircraft said to resemble military drones – was his on social media an hour before.
It’s not the first time Banksy’s work has been at the centre of controversy or caused a stir.
This time last year, eight people were arrested in Ukraine after they were accused of stealing the iconic artist’s graffiti from a wall.
Painted on a building damaged by Russian bombs, the stencil image of a woman in a nightgown and gas mask holding a fire extinguisher went missing from the city of Hostomel, near Kyiv.
In 2021, one of Banksy’s pieces was also removed from the side of a building in Nottinghamshire and sold on to a gallery for a ‘six-figure’ sum.
One onlooker who watched the drama unfold in the capital today said: ‘He arrived the first time, the bloke, and tried to climb up to the sign and then couldn’t quite knock it, the sign, of its hinges, just with his hand.
‘So then he went away and then came back with a pair of bolt cutters and climbed up on the bike.
‘He fell off the first time. Then his mate steadied the bike and then he climbed back up again and just bashed the sign off the hinges and then ran off.’
He added: ‘As soon as it (the art piece) went up online a few people cycled down to it to see it straight away and just sort of hung around.
‘When he started trying to knock it off a few people were shouting for him to stop but he just carried on and that’s when he realised he couldn’t get it off with just his hands and had to get some bolt cutters.’
Another witness said he was ‘surprised’ the art had appeared and that it would have been ‘nice if it stayed there for a while’.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ‘I was crossing the road and somebody there said “look” and told me what was happening.
‘There were four or five of us taking pictures of this guy on the bike, this man wanted to get hold of the sign.
‘At one point he went away and he came back with a tool and then he completed the work and went away. Apparently the tool remained there, he left it on the wall.
‘I was surprised to see it, I took a picture of the sign, but I didn’t want to take a picture of the guy.
‘It is strange, these pieces of art are nice, it would be nice if it had stayed there for a while.’