Second man arrested on suspicion of Banksy theft

A second man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage following the removal of a Banksy artwork[1] from a street in south London on Friday. The artwork in Peckham – a traffic stop sign with three small aircraft said to represent military drones – was taken down within an hour of the artist verifying it. Witnesses saw the sign being removed by a man with bolt-cutters less than an hour after Banksy confirmed it was genuine by posting a photo on social media.

Pictures from the scene showed a man wearing a red and black jacket using a Lime hire bicycle to prop himself up, with one foot on the saddle and the other on the handlebars, while another man held the bike steady against the pole. A further image showed the man in red and black running in front of a white van with the stop sign after managing to remove it.

Photos from the scene show a man in red and black running in front of a white van with the stop sign after managing to remove itCredit: AARON CHOWN/PA

The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of an incident on Dec 22 in which a road traffic sign was removed in Commercial Way, Peckham. Banksy confirmed he had created the piece in a social media post on Friday just after midday.

At around 12.30pm, two men were seen using tools to remove the sign. On Saturday, the Met said a man in his 20s had been arrested[2] on suspicion of theft and criminal damage and bailed pending further enquiries. On Christmas Eve, the Met said a second man, in his 40s, had been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage and remained in police custody.

A regular stop sign has since been installed to avoid endangering road users at the intersection, police said. A spokesman added: “This incident is currently being investigated by officers from the Met’s central south CID. We are aware of footage being shared, which shows the sign being removed.

Anyone who may have information about the incident or the whereabouts of the sign is asked to call police.” In February, a Banksy installation called Valentine’s Day Mascara, which showed a 1950s housewife with a black eye and missing tooth appearing to throw a man into a chest freezer left by the side of a house in Margate, Kent, was dismantled[3] hours after the artist had shared photos of it online as Thanet Council removed the freezer on safety grounds. A resident of the property, who asked not to be named, said the freezer and other items used to create the piece, including a broken garden chair, were removed “very quickly” and put into a truck.

The council said it returned the freezer a day later after it had been “made safe”.

References

1. ^ the removal of a Banksy artwork (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^ had been arrested (www.telegraph.co.uk)
3. ^ was dismantled (www.telegraph.co.uk)