London Police Apprehend Suspects in Brazen Banksy Art Theft

Less than an hour after confirming the artwork on Friday, London police have detained two individuals on suspicion of stealing Banksy‘s most recent piece.

According to the Associated Press, Banksy’s installation, which was situated in the Peckham neighborhood of south London, included three military drones perched atop a red stop sign.

A man with bold cutters stole the sign in broad daylight, and witnesses recorded the robbery with photos and videos.

Given that some of Banksy‘s artwork has sold for tens of millions of dollars, some people assumed it wouldn’t survive long after he shared a photo of the sign on Instagram.

Before anything occurred to the stop sign, a spectator who only wanted to be called Alex informed the Associated Press that he had gone to see it. He and a large group of witnesses watched as a man wearing a red and black jacket got onto a bike and started pounding the bolted sign with his hands.

“What are you doing, we asked. however, nobody really knew what to do, so we were just kind of observers,” Alex told the Associated Press. “We were all a bit bemused; there was some honking of car horns.”

A few minutes later, the man reappeared carrying a pair of bolt cutters. According to reports, another man stood on a rented bike, steadied it, then took it off and ran away.

A man in his 20s was detained by London police on Saturday on suspicion of stealing and causing criminal damage. He was later freed on bond.

Subsequently, on Sunday, a further suspect—a guy in his 40s this time—was apprehended and charged with theft and criminal damage.

Banksy is renowned for his politically charged graffiti art and is known for creating thought-provoking pieces. Many of his Instagram fans saw his most recent post as a request for the Gaza Strip to go to calm.