Man suspected of being ‘Banksy bandit’ is ARRESTED

A person has been arrested on suspicion of theft and legal harm after a £250,000 Banksy artwork set up was taken from south-east London, the Metropolitan Police stated.

The cease signal that includes three army drones appeared on the junction of Commercial Way in Peckham on Friday. 

But it was chopped off with bolt cutters simply an hour after it was formally unveiled by the underground artist. 

Earlier immediately, Scotland Yard informed MailOnline that they have been searching the suspect.

They stated: ‘The MPS is conscious of an incident that occurred on Friday, 22 December, in relation to the removing of a street site visitors sign up Commercial Way, Peckham.

‘Our native authority companions have been knowledgeable on the time and have since changed the street signal to keep away from endangering street customers.

‘We have since acquired a report of theft and enquiries are ongoing. This incident is presently being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South CID. There has been no arrest at this stage.

‘We are conscious of footage being shared which reveals the signal being eliminated. Anyone who might have details about the incident or the whereabouts of the signal is requested to name police on 101 quoting ref 5742/22dec.’ 

The deputy chief of Southwark Council yesterday stated the area people need the art work again after it was chopped down lower than an hour after it was revealed to be real.

Earlier the pressure dominated out a probe into the incident whereas it waited for a proper report of a crime from the proprietor of the property.

The cease signal – alongside the graffiti depicting three army drones – was hacked down with bolt cutters by a person standing on a Lime bike, who took it away in entrance of a crowd of outraged onlookers.

Labour councillor Jasmine Ali stated: ‘Of course Banksy picked Peckham, it is already on the map with regards to artwork and is a hotbed for creativity. 

‘It mustn’t have been eliminated and we would prefer it again so everybody in the neighborhood can get pleasure from Banksy’s sensible work. 

‘We have reported the removing of our signal to the police to assist get it again.’ 

Pieces by the rogue artist have been offered for hundreds of thousands of kilos – and specialists are already speculating that it may make tons of of 1000’s amid hypothesis that it might have been taken for a fast revenue.

Banksy confirmed the art work – a site visitors cease signal lined with three army drones – was his in an Instagram submit shortly after noon.

That submit has already attracted greater than 1million likes. 

The revelation led to a stream of locals descending on the positioning and taking photographs of the set up on their telephones. 

But at round 12.30pm, the peaceable scene was shattered by the arrival of two males, one in every of whom balanced precariously on an Lime e-bike whereas hurriedly hacking the signal down with bolt cutters. 

It comes after a Peckham councilor slammed the Met for not taking motion sooner towards each Banksy and the alleged thief – as he says defacing and eradicating a cease signal could possibly be a danger for public security which will have ‘deadly penalties’.

The signal has since been changed and the Met say that they’re conscious of the incident.

Labour’s Barrie Hargrove stated: ‘I’m not a Philistine, however for me what actually, actually considerations me extra is {that a} cease signal has been vandalised.

‘A cease signal, which I’m presuming is giving site visitors directions – and that considerations me that the police do not appear to suppose something of that.

‘Clearly a Banksy murals is a really helpful factor but it surely appears to me extra of a case of vandalism of the road aspect. It may have deadly penalties.

‘I do not suppose it is a good suggestion to vandalise the general public realm and positively not the freeway, the place it may have deadly penalties.’

Ian Syer co founding father of MyArtDealer informed MailOnline: ‘Street installations by Banksy are usually onerous to promote as a consequence of normally having to take away whole partitions of buildings.

‘But these chaps had it away in minutes however they’d be fortunate to get £250k for it, if a purchaser ever got here ahead. 

‘However, it is our view these installations ought to by no means be offered and ought to be preserved and loved by the general public, not stolen for a fast revenue’ 

The rider of the e-bike, who requested to be referred to solely as Alex, stated he ‘watched in awe’ as the person ‘bashed’ the signal along with his fingers whereas balancing on the saddle. 

The man eradicating the signal, who was sporting a crimson jacket, fled with it after simply 60 seconds after onlookers shouted at him to cease. He left the bolt cutters behind.

The extraordinary scenes unfolded at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham near a zebra crossing.

Banksy’s works have beforehand offered for hundreds of thousands of kilos at public sale. The identification of the lads will not be recognized and it is nonetheless unclear precisely who was behind the removing and whether or not it was a stunt. However, it has been claimed that Banksy was not concerned. 

The piece has already been valued at £250,000 by artwork specialists – though they added that they consider the works ought to be left to be loved by the general public.

Ed Damon stated he noticed Banksy erecting the artwork work at 7am yesterday – and was later witness to it being stolen.

The 45-year-old was out on an early morning run when he noticed a person in his 40s with gray hair standing on a pair of steps at a lamppost on Commercial Way.

He informed MailOnline: ‘I assumed it was a bit unusual however the man didn’t grasp round. He had some steps up and as soon as it was up, he simply ran throughout the street. I didn’t see the place he went. There have been some automobiles round however not many different folks

‘I took a photograph to indicate my associates and thought nothing extra. It was solely immediately I heard it was a Banksy, and that man should have been Banksy.

Mr Damon, a civil servant, was returning to his dwelling in Peckham this afternoon when he noticed a crowd standing by the signal.

He stated: ‘This man simply minimize it down and ran off. No one tried to cease him.

‘I do not suppose anybody knew it was a Banksy till he posted it on his social media and made it official.

‘It’s a bit surreal to see it go up after which come down.’

Alex, 26, stated he had ridden an e-bike to the signal after listening to about it on social media. 

He stated: ‘I opened Instagram and I noticed it was posted 4 minutes earlier than and I used to be about to go on my lunch break. There have been about two folks there after I obtained there. We have been all kind of admiring it and taking photos.

‘This man comes up and grabs it, we watched in awe as he bashed it. He put the Lime bike underneath the signal, stood on the Lime bike and tried to hit the signal, he hit it along with his fingers and it wasn’t going wherever.

‘He fell off the Lime bike at one level. He disappeared and went away and about two minutes later he reappeared with bolt cutters and simply kind of tried and tried and tried whereas everybody was watching.

‘We stated ‘what are you doing?’ however nobody actually knew what to do, we kind of simply watched it occur. We have been all a bit bemused; there was some honking of automobile horns.

‘He ripped it off and ran throughout the street and ran away. He stated nothing. He did not appear to care that a lot in regards to the artwork itself. 

‘There was another person there however I do not know in the event that they have been collectively.

‘I went there pondering that folks need that, I wished to see it earlier than one thing occurred to it. Before it was taken, another person stated ‘lets take it?”

Banksy has not but commented on the drama, however had been warned by a social media consumer: ‘The signal shall be snatched pronto.’ 

The drones on the piece resembled these on one other art work, Civilian Drone Strike, which depicted them destroying a home whereas a little bit lady and her canine watch on in horror. 

It was offered for £200,000 to boost funds in opposition to a London arms honest.

Onlookers began shouting when a person tried to take away a Banksy set up in south London, a witness stated. 

They stated: ‘He arrived the primary time, the bloke, and tried to climb as much as the signal after which could not fairly knock it, the signal, of its hinges, simply along with his hand.

‘So then he went away after which got here again with a pair of bolt cutters and climbed up on the bike.

‘He fell off the primary time. Then his mate steadied the bike after which he climbed again up once more and simply bashed the log off the hinges after which ran off.’

He added: ‘As quickly because it (the artwork piece) went up on-line just a few folks cycled right down to it to see it immediately and simply kind of hung round.

‘When he began attempting to knock it off just a few folks have been shouting for him to cease however he simply carried on and that is when he realised he could not get it off with simply his fingers and needed to get some bolt cutters.’

A second witness who noticed the removing of a Banksy art work in south London stated it ‘stunned’ him and it could have been ‘good if it stayed there for some time’.

The man, who wished to stay nameless, stated: ‘I used to be crossing the street and someone there stated ‘look’ and informed me what was occurring. There have been 4 or 5 of us taking photos of this man on the bike, this man wished to pay money for the signal.

‘At one level he went away and he got here again with a instrument after which he accomplished the work and went away. Apparently the instrument remained there, he left it on the wall.

‘I used to be stunned to see it, I took an image of the signal, however I did not wish to take an image of the man.

‘It is unusual, these items of artwork are good, it could be good if it had stayed there for some time.’

This will not be the primary time Banksy’s artwork work has been eliminated shortly after its creation.

A mural weighing 3.8 tons known as Valentine’s Day Mascara appeared on the aspect of a home in Margate, Kent, on Valentine’s Day this 12 months and was dismantled some hours after Banksy had shared a sequence of photographs of it on-line.

The mural depicted a Fifties housewife with a swollen eye and lacking tooth, sporting an apron and yellow washing-up gloves, and throwing a person right into a chest freezer.

At the time the resident of the property the place the portray was created, who requested to not be named, stated the freezer and different objects together with a damaged backyard chair used for the art work had been eliminated ‘in a short time’ and put right into a truck.

In September the mural was positioned within the lobby of The Art of Banksy exhibition in Regent Street, central London, the place it may be seen without cost.

The exhibition options items together with Girl With Balloon, Flower Thrower and Rude Copper and in addition focuses on Banksy’s Dismaland, The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem and up to date works acknowledging the continued conflict in Ukraine.

An exhibition additionally opened at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) this 12 months for a restricted run and showcased 25 years of Banksy’s stencil graffiti.

Cut & Run included genuine artefacts, ephemera and the artist’s rest room, in addition to a mannequin that defined how the artist shredded Girl With Balloon throughout an public sale at Sotheby’s in London in 2018.

In August, a message on cutandrun.co.uk, stated that organisers now ‘wish to take this present on the street however do not know the place to go to subsequent’.

The artist typically refers to up to date points and in 2020 included messages in regards to the Coronavirus pandemic in his work.

Transport for London (TfL) eliminated spray paint in a London Underground carriage as a consequence of what they known as their ‘strict anti-graffiti coverage’.

Last month, it emerged a £1million Banksy mural criticising Brexit was partly destroyed after the native council demolished the constructing it was on to make means for a brand new £25million regeneration venture.

The mural appeared on the aspect of a constructing in Dover, Kent, in May 2017 – a 12 months after Britain narrowly voted in a referendum to depart the European Union. 

The departure was symbolised by the picture of a workman on a ladder chipping away at one of many stars of the EU flag.

Dover District Council (DDC) flattened the constructing for a regeneration venture which included a cultural, academic and enterprise start-up centre, sparking fears for the way forward for the artwork work.

But DDC chief Councillor Kevin Mills stated that bits of the work, which was mysteriously whitewashed in a single day in 2019, had been saved.

Councillor Mills stated the picture of the person on a ladder and the yellow stars he’s engaged on have been rescued, however not the broader blue background.

He claimed the issue was that the picture was on the render of the constructing, which was knocked down by DDS Demolition.

DDS Demolition informed MailOnline the constructing was unsafe and needed to come down, however insisted it was rigorously taken down reasonably then a demolition.

Banksy, whose profession started within the 90s, is thought by hundreds of thousands of individuals because of the looks of dozens of iconic artworks in surprising places world wide, with many having gone on to promote for hundreds of thousands. 

For years his identification has been a sizzling subject, with names resembling Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja and Gorillaz founder Jamie Hewlett being floated round.

Also instructed is public schoolboy Robin Gunningham, who was ‘unmasked’ as Banksy by the Mail On Sunday in 2008 after an investigation into his previous.

Regardless of who he his, Banksy’s works are sizzling property on the artwork market.

In 2021, his ‘Love is within the Bin’ work was purchased for greater than £18million, with its worth having been boosted after a shredder hidden in its body minimize it to items moments after it was offered for the primary time in 2018.

The work, beforehand referred to as ‘Girl with Balloon’, was simply one in every of greater than a dozen of Banksy’s creations which have offered for greater than £2million.

Banksy makes use of artwork as a type of activism, commonly making societal and political statements with their works. 

The artist was born simply outdoors of Bristol in 1973 and he was a gifted illustrator who drew cartoons.

Having additionally sprayed his tag throughout Bristol, Banksy then advanced with the occasions and started creating extra subtle items, while all the time retaining his identification hidden.

One of Banksy’s earliest works is the The Mild Mild West.

The giant mural was painted in 1999 in Bristol’s Stokes Croft and reveals a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police.

It was painted by the artist over three days in broad daylight and continues to be within the metropolis immediately, amongst a few of Banksy’s different works.

The exhaustive MoS investigation into Banksy’s identification heard from dozens of associates, former colleagues, enemies, flatmates and even relations. 

The search started with a picture of a person in Jamaica at work along with his stencils and cans of spray paint.

Although Banksy denied the picture confirmed him, the Mail’s investigation was later backed by researchers at Queen Mary University.

They used ‘geographic profiling’ – a way extra typically used to catch criminals or observe outbreaks of illness – to plot the places of 192 of Banksy’s presumed artworks. 

The websites indicated ‘sizzling spots’ which have been narrowed right down to pinpoint a person. Peaks inside these clusters have been discovered to correlate to a pub, taking part in fields and residential addresses carefully linked to Mr Gunningham and his family and friends.

Mr Gunningham attended Bristol Cathedral School and was born in July 1973. A college picture of him bore a putting resemblance to the person within the Jamaica {photograph}.

A former college good friend described him as being ‘extraordinarily gifted’ at artwork and admitted he would ‘not be in any respect stunned’ if he was Banksy.

In nameless interviews he has executed, Banksy has stated he first grew to become involved in graffiti at college.

And a fellow artist he was dwelling with in Bristol in 1998, Luke Egan, went on to exhibit with Banksy at Santa’s Ghetto, an artwork retailer in London’s West End. 

However, Mr Gunningham’s household denied that he was Banksy and the hyperlink was by no means explicitly confirmed.