'New Banksy' appears at site of 'stolen' mural
It appears graffiti artist Banksy has had the final word after a piece of his artwork was ripped from a wall in a London street.
A stencil image of a rat holding a card saying 'Why?' has appeared on the same wall near Turnpike Lane in North London.
A mural, which depicted a boy kneeling at a sewing machine making Union Jack bunting, appeared on the side of a Poundland store last year. The arrival of the artwork - which was believed to have been created by the famous street artist - was praised by bloggers and Twitter users at the time but earlier this month it disappeared overnight, being ripped from the wall.
Poundland took to Twitter to say they were investigating the disappearance of the mural and maintained there were not responsible for its removal.
Last week the mural appeared for sale at a Miami auction house, with bids starting at $400,000.
Auction website owner Frederic Thut told The Sun the work was being sold by a “well-known collector” but wouldn’t name the person.
He said he was offered it along with Banksy’s Wet Dog Bethlehem 2007, adding: “The collector signed a contract saying everything was above board. If he has lied to us it is important to know. But I don’t think he lies to us.”
The mural is to go on sale in the US this weekend, meanwhile it seems Banksy has left another gift for his fans.