The eighth mural by street artist Banksy, located on Westmoor Street in Charlton and which corresponds to the figure of a rhinoceros on a wall that simulates climbing a car parked just in front, has been vandalized by another graffiti artist, according to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’.
The work, which belongs to the already named ‘London Zoo’ series, was confirmed by the artist himself through his Instagram account. Shortly after his confirmation, on Tuesday 13 August, a man wearing a balaclava and a can of white paint painted over the mural, while a witness who recorded the images reprimanded him. In addition, the car that formed the graffiti has also been removed, although the city council has assured that it was not by the administration.
A spokesman for the local authority where the mural is located, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, has expressed regret at the incident. “It is a real shame that a brainless vandal has defaced the mural, which has already attracted visitors and brought joy to many… The council is looking into what will happen to the artwork in the future,” he confirmed to The Guardian.
The ninth and final mural, for now, was found just outside London Zoo on Tuesday. It features a gorilla pretending to lift the metal shutter on which it stands, with the figure of a seal and some birds appearing through it.
The murals, which Banksy himself has been publishing on his Instagram profile, number nine and for the moment the artist has not explained the meaning of the series.
This Sunday, August 11, the artist closed his first “animal” week by confirming the authorship of a glass police booth, which was found to be a piranha fish tank. In the photo that Banksy himself published, an officer looks at the work while taking a photo of it.
In recent days, a cat, a pelican, a wolf on a satellite dish, primates hanging from a bridge, elephants and a goat – which was the first graffiti – have appeared on London walls and surfaces.
The fourth of the murals, which depicts a wolf on a satellite dish and is located on the top of a building on Rye Lane, in the Peckham neighbourhood in the south-east of the British capital, was stolen last Friday, August 9, a few hours after it was discovered.
