A second man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage after Banksy‘s £250,000 ‘drone stop’ sign art installation was stolen in broad daylight.
The piece of street art – a traffic stop sign covered with three aircraft resembling military drones – was revealed in Peckham, southeast London, at midday on Friday.
But less than an hour after Banksy confirmed it was genuine by posting a photo on social media, witnesses saw the artwork being removed by a man with bolt cutters.
A man in his 40s was arrested today in connection with the removal of the art installation, the Met Police has said. He remains in police custody.
A 23-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident yesterday. He has been bailed pending further inquiries until a date in mid-March.
A man was seen taking down the sign on Friday using a pair of bolt cutters – balancing on an e-bike to allow him to reach. The rider of the e-bike was an onlooker and didn’t carry out the theft
The extraordinary scenes unfolded at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham at about 12.30pm on Friday
The man, dressed in a red jacket on Friday and apparently wearing work gear, pulled the sign down before making off with it
Video showed a man with bolt cutters climbing up on a bicycle to remove the work from a sign post at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way while another man steadied the bike.
The man who cut the sign free then ran off with it in his hand.
A voice on a video of the incident could be heard saying, ‘it makes me so annoyed,’ as the man ran away.
A witness said 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,’ the witness, who wished only to be identified as Alex, said on Friday. ‘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 has since been replaced.
The artwork had been left at the intersection of Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham, south London
The man ran away holding the sign after removing it on Friday
The man who seemingly removed the sign also left the pair of bolt cutters behind at the scene
Banksy – a traffic stop sign covered with three military drones – was his in an Instagram post on Friday shortly after midday
Pieces by the rogue artist have been sold for millions of pounds – and experts are already speculating that it could make hundreds of thousands amid speculation that it may have been taken for a quick profit.
Banksy’s thought-provoking and satirical art often takes aim at war.
Many of his followers on Instagram interpreted his latest work as calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.