A valuable Banksy mural has been deliberately destroyed by transport workers amid concerns it would ‘attract more graffiti’, it emerged today (tues).
The mural – featuring three, black monkeys swinging along an imaginary rope – was stencil sprayed on a span of concrete railway bridge in London.
However today it emerged that railway workers had deliberately removed the artwork using a high pressure washer.
The removal sparked horror among Bansky lovers who could not believe that the artwork which first appeared in August had been destroyed.
Horrified onlookers in Tower Hamlets, east London, spotted workers removing it from the bridge last week.
The bridge, which carries the London Overground’s Windrush Line between Shoreditch High Street and Whitechapel, is located on Brick Lane.
Pictures from the scene afterwards show some graffiti remains – but the Bristol artist’s piece is gone.
Now, after an investigation by online publication The Tab, Transport for London has admitted it is behind the removal of the artwork.
A Transport for London spokesperson said: “There are rules in place around graffiti or unauthorised art on the TfL network and there are good reasons why these must be followed.
“Sometimes graffiti or unauthorised art can attract more graffiti, which encourages trespassing and anti-social activity that poses a danger to the operational railway and customers, so this piece had to be removed.”
A protective cover had previously been placed over the monkeys, which some thought meant the piece would be staying in place.
The three monkeys were part of a series of Banksy artworks painted across the country’s capital this summer.
Other works included a painting of a gorilla letting out animals near London Zoo, and a goat on the side of a building in Richmond, south west London.
Some thought the three monkeys might have been a reference to the Japanese proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.’
On social media, users expressed their disappointment.
One user on Instagram said: “It doesn’t make any sense what they did, just look how people love it, many tourists coming to Brick Lane must be very disappointed now!”
Another commented: “A tragic aspect of British life – rules over joy and entertainment. Very puritanical move! “
