Public Media Arts Hub

Banksy artwork showing drones on stop sign stolen in London
Banksy artwork depicting drones covers a stop sign in London, Britain, Dec. 22, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. Photo shared by Joe Brown via REUTERS
Arts & Culture

Suspect arrested in alleged theft of new Banksy art piece featuring drones on a stop sign

By Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A man suspected of stealing an artwork by Banksy of a stop sign adorned with three military drones, was arrested Saturday, London police said.

A man in his 20s was in custody on suspicion of theft and criminal damage, the Metropolitan police said.

The sign was taken less than an hour after the elusive street artist posted a photo of the work on his Instagram page Friday.

Video showed a man with bolt cutters climbing up on a bicycle to remove the work from a sign post on a street corner in the Peckham area of south London while another man steadied the bike. The man who cut the sign free then ran off with it in his hand.

READ MORE: Stolen Banksy work honoring Bataclan victims found in Italy

A voice on a video of the incident could be heard saying, "it makes me so annoyed," as the man ran away.

A witness who only wanted to be called Alex told the PA news agency that the small crowd of people that had shown up to view the work stood around watching in awe as the scene unfolded.

"We said, 'What are you doing? But no one really knew what to do, we sort of just watched it happen," Alex said. "We were all a bit bemused; there was some honking of car horns."

Jasmine Ali, deputy leader of the local borough council, called for the piece to be returned.

"It should not have been removed and we'd like it back so everyone in the community can enjoy Banksy's brilliant work," Ali said.

The stop sign was replaced.

Banksy's thought-provoking and satirical art often takes aim at war. Many of his followers on Instagram interpreted the work as calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

Support Canvas

Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.

Donate

Associated Press

Canvas supported by

Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation

 Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund

Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund

 The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

 Kettering Foundation

Kettering Foundation
More Stories
View All Stories
Send Us Your Ideas
+
Let us know what you'd like to see on ArtsCanvas. Your thoughts and opinions matter.
Send us a message →