On the afternoon of the 22nd (local time), two people are stealing a STOP sign with three drones, a work by installation artist Banksy, at a road intersection in Packham, southeast London, England. / Yonhap News
An artwork by the ‘faceless artist’ Banksy was stolen from a street in London, England, in broad daylight an hour after it was installed.
According to the British daily Guardian, at around 12:30 pm on the 22nd (local time), at a road intersection in Packham, southeast London, two men cut off a stop sign artwork installed by Banksy with a tool and ran away. This sign, a work of Banksy, depicts three military drones overlapping the English word ‘STOP’, which means ‘stop’. This work was interpreted as a message against war. While the people who took the work ignored the traffic signal and ran away, citizens at the scene said, “Oh my God,” and “(the theft fact) is annoying.” The unobstructed faces of the thieves were exposed in the scenes filmed by passing citizens. The Guardian reported that the theft does not appear to have been an act on Banksy’s part.
About an hour before the theft, a photo was posted on Banksy’s social media account, Instagram, showing an intersection sign that identifies the installation location directly below the work. The comments on this post, which received hundreds of thousands of likes, were filled with reactions such as “It will be stolen soon.”
Immediately after the theft, Southwark District Office, which has jurisdiction over the area, said the theft was reported to the police, and the police also said they were aware of the theft. Deputy District Mayor Jazmin Ali Southwark said on the social media Instagram, “It is shameful that Banksy’s installation work, which belongs to all (citizens), was stolen,” and added, “I want to get it back so that everyone can enjoy it together.”
Recently, there has been a sharp increase in thefts and robberies in public places in London. Citing Transport for London (TfL), Euronews reported on the 14th that thefts on the London Underground increased by 83% between April and September compared to the same period last year. During the same period, subway robberies soared 107%. According to the British Home Office, 250 mobile phones were stolen per day in London last year, or one every six minutes.
The ‘STOP’ sign work posted on faceless installation artist Banksy’s Instagram was stolen within an hour./Banksy Instagram
Cases of Banksy’s public installations being stolen were common. Last June, a French court sentenced eight people to 3 to 4 years in prison and imprisoned them with electronic anklets on charges of stealing an entire Banksy painting from the iron gate of the Bataclan Theater in Paris in January 2019. The ruling was made that it could be done. The work they stole was installed by Banksy in June 2018 in commemoration of the Paris terrorist attacks (November 2015). Some of Banksy’s works left around the city to support Ukraine were also stolen or damaged.
The Guardian reported that if Banksy’s work falls into private hands inappropriately, such as through theft, the issuance of a certificate of authenticity will be refused.
A worker stands in front of Banksy’s installation art installed on the exterior wall of a residential building damaged by a Russian airstrike in the city of Irpin, outside Kiev, Ukraine, on April 19. / Reuters Yonhap News
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2023-12-23 02:27:28
