LONDON — Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by street artist Banksy from a London gallery, police said Friday.
The Metropolitan Police said Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, allegedly took ‘Girl with Balloon’ from the Grove Gallery on Sunday evening.
The suspects appeared at Wimbledon District Court on Thursday and were ordered held until their next hearing on October 9.
Police say they have recovered the work, valued in court documents at 270,000 pounds ($355,000).
The stolen work is one of several versions of “Girl with Balloon,” a stenciled image of a child reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. Originally stencilled on a wall in East London, the image has been endlessly reproduced and has become one of Banksy’s best-known images.
Another version partially destroyed itself during a 2018 auction, going through a chipper hidden in the frame, just after it was purchased for 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) at Sotheby’s.
The work, which fragmented into itself, retitled ‘Love is in the Bin’, sold for £18.6 million ($25.4 million at the time) in 2021.
Bansky, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee holding a sign with the words: “Laugh now, but one day I will be in charge.”
His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have attracted thieves and vandals.
This summer, a series of animal-themed stencils appeared in London. One of them, a howling wolf on a satellite dish, was removed by a masked man less than an hour after its authenticity was confirmed. An image of a gorilla at London Zoo and piranhas at a police guard post in London’s financial district were both removed by authorities for safekeeping.
