Theft of Banksy’s latest work, two people in handcuffs

LONDON – Two people were arrested on charges of theft and damage for having stolen a street sign transformed into a work of art by Banksy. This was made known by the London Metropolitan Police, according to what the BBC reported. Last night the first thief ended up in prison, this afternoon the second. Both ended up in a video that went viral on social media.

The new work of Banksy era appeared on a street in the British capital and then, within an hour, mysteriously disappeared. It is a road sign, a stop sign at the intersection of a road, to which reproductions of three drones have been attached: apparently a reference to the weapons used with dramatic effect in the war in Gaza and in the war in Ukraine. The message is clear: stop the drones, or stop the bombings.

The work was affixed to a pole on Commercial Way, a street in the Peckham district of south London, shortly after midday on Friday. Some passers-by photographed it, the image ended up on social media and a certain number of onlookers came to take it back. But an hour later two men climbed to the top of the pole, tore down the sign and carried it away rather hastily. Someone photographed them and these images also ended up on social media and then on traditional media, including the Bbc.

“No one knew what to do, we watched what was happening without understanding,” said Alex, 26, one of the witnesses at the scene. “I shouted to those who were taking him away, ‘what are you doing?’, but they didn’t answer and we left them to it.”

At first it was thought that the artist’s collaborators were taking away the signal with drones, but the Bbc he claims that he is not behind the removal. Another possibility is that they were art thieves, aware of the potential value of the work, to try to resell it on the black market. Scotland Yard has announced that it has not opened an investigation for the moment because no owner of the work has reported its theft.

Banksy, the name chosen by an anonymous British conceptual art artist, is no stranger to surprise installations. Just as it is his habit to intervene in news events with pacifist works against the war.