Banksy artwork removed from wall and moved to top secret location

An entire section of a shop wall featuring a valuable Banksy artwork has been removed before being hidden in a mystery location. The brick and plaster section was carefully cut out of the wall of an empty electrical shop by removal experts at the weekend The shop was previously on the market for GBP300,000.

However but it saw its value leap by at least another GBP200,000 after Banksy’s work, which showed a child with a crowbar, appeared in August. But now the property’s owner has decided to remove the artwork from the building in Lowestoft, Suffolk. A video shows a yellow telehandler tearing out part of the wall featuring the graffiti, which was protected with a screen and wooden boards.

The property owner decided to remove the artwork (Crispin Hook / SWNS)

Workmen then loaded the wall slab onto a truck, which took it to an undisclosed location.

It remains unclear whether the artwork will be sold at auction, though previous Banksy pieces have reeled in millions under the hammer. Furious locals have blasted the proprietor for removing the artwork. It was one of 10 pieces made in Banksy’s Great British Spraycation project on the east coast of England.

On Facebook, resident Brandon Eames described the removal as “stupidity” and “disrespectful”. He wrote: “Now being shipped off to sell at public auction.. This is terrible.

Why spend the money to protect it then just take it away…”

The child digging in the sand (AFP via Getty Images)

Fellow local Matthew Cook said: “Greed, lack of understanding, lack of respect. “Remove a painted artwork all because who did it… its a joke to be honest and should have been allowed. Sets a bad precedent.”

Lynda Palmer added: “So so sad, perhaps he will come back and do another one .

But somewhere it won’t be taken away from.”

The building, which previously hosted Lowestoft Electrical, saw its market value jump from GBP300,000 to GBP500,000 after the Banksy artwork appeared.

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