Thieves steal Ukrainian street artist Banksy mural

A group of thieves thwarted a mural by the well-known street artist Banksy on the outskirts of Kyiv, a Ukrainian official said Friday.

The image of a woman holding a fire extinguisher in a bathrobe and gas mask was cut away from the war damaged wall on the side of a scorched building in the Hostomel suburb of the Ukrainiain capital, Kyiv Regional Gov. Oleksii Kuleba said in a post on his Telegram channel.

He said the thieves were arrested at the scene, and the image was unamaged and under the protection of law enforcement officers.

He added that these images are a symbol of our struggle against the enemy. These stories are about the support and solidarity of the whole civilized world with Ukraine. Let s do everything to preserve the works of street art as a symbol of our future victory. Since the Russian invasion on February 24th, a mural by Banksy has been completed in Ukraine.

The artist who keeps his identity secret released video footage and images of several murals on his Instagram site of several other murals in Horenka and Borodyanka on the outskirts of Kyiv last month.

Some Ukrainians do everyday activities such as children playing or people bathing. Another portrays a man being flipped by a child in Judo.

Banksy is based in England and has been the subject of intense international speculation since he became active in the 1990s.

His work uses a distinctive stencil technique, and is often intended as a darkly humorous political satire on themes of poverty and social injustice.

Banksy, a vocal anti-war activist, has also painted murals in Gaza and the West Bank.

His work, normally sprayed on the sides of buildings, has been threatened by thieves before. In June, eight were convicted in Paris over the theft of a Banksy mural in the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, which commemorated the victims of a 2015 terror attack at the venue.