Hours after the unveiling, an artwork by the anonymous street artist Banksy was stolen from a rooftop in Peckham, south London. The image of a satellite dish bearing Banksy’s howling wolf stencil was posted on the artist’s Instagram handle on Thursday.
Later, video footage was recovered of three people using a ladder to climb the building in Peckham to remove the satellite dish and take it with them.
It was the fourth Banksy work to be displayed in London in a week. The first was a goat artwork atop a wall near Kew Bridge in Richmond that was first seen on Monday. The next day a shadow of two elephants appeared on the side of a house in Chelsea, with their trunks extended towards each other. The third piece, unveiled on Wednesday, shows three monkeys swinging on a railway bridge in east London.
The Bristol-based artist is known for commenting on socio-political issues and there is speculation that these recent animal-series works may be in response to the recent far-right riots across the UK or the tense situation in the Middle East .
Coincidentally, in March, an environmentally-themed mural by the elusive artist in London’s Finsbury Park neighborhood was destroyed when it was covered with stripes of white paint. Later, wooden barriers and protective plastic sheets were added by the building owner to prevent further damage to the building.
The contemporary artist, who was born in 1975, is believed to have first attracted attention for his graffiti and distinctive sculptures in the 90s. Although his identity is unknown, there is much speculation about who Banksy possibly is.
Banksy’s new artwork stolen in London within an hour of being unveiled
