A man has been arrested by police investigating the theft of a Banksy street sign in London.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Saturday: “One man has been arrested on suspicion of theft and criminal damage in connection with the incident. He remains in custody.”
The piece of street art – a red stop sign with three military drones on it, now apparently worth up to £500,000 – appeared on the corner of Commercial Way, Peckham, on Friday morning – with Banksy confirming its credentials just after midday.
The Met said that CID officers were trying to track down the people who stole it after a council in south-east London asked it to help find the stolen artwork.
Acknowledging that footage of the incident had been widely shared on social media, the force said that anyone who could help or knew the whereabouts of the valuable sign to call police on “101 quoting ref 5742/22dec”.
Earlier on Saturday, Southwark council’s Jasmine Ali said: “I have every confidence they will get it back. We are not just talking about a street sign here, it is a work of art which was put there for the community.”
“It is street art and it is for the people,” she said.
It also emerged that the council had already replaced the road sign to avoid potential traffic accidents.
Ulrich Blanché, a street art expert with Heidelberg University in Germany, believes the installation’s siting on Commercial Way close to a funeral director, along with the drones – which appear to be military Reapers – suggests a critique of the global arms trade. Many of Banksy’s Instagram followers interpreted his latest work as calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
One gallery owner has said the artwork could be worth up to £500,000. John Brandler, whose Essex gallery sells Banksy’s works, said: “It could easily be higher. The media attention has made it more valuable.”
Similar drone art appeared at Banksy’s Walled Off hotel in Bethlehem in 2017, which he said had “the worst view of any hotel in the world” – referencing Israel’s controversial wall in the West Bank.
The artist has installed other pieces this year including Valentine’s Day Mascara, a mural weighing 3.8 tonnes that appeared on the side of a house in Margate, Kent.
It depicted a 1950s’ housewife with a swollen eye and missing tooth, wearing an apron and yellow washing-up gloves, and throwing a man into a chest freezer.
In September it was placed in the foyer of The Art of Banksy exhibition in central London, where it can be viewed free of charge.
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