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Banksy security guard in New Orleans.

24 February 2014. New Orleans, Louisiana.

As reported in The Sun, London.

Banksy ‘thieves’ busted cutting original grafitti art work from shop wall

By JACK LOSH
Last Updated: 24th February 2014

A BOGUS construction crew were chased off after they were busted cutting an original Banksy from a wall.
One of the gang, who called himself Chris, was caught holding a power drill half-way through extracting the work by the British street artist.

Hidden by a temporary wall of plywood, he told snapper Charlie Varley that the 2008 artwork – dubbed “Umbrella Girl” – would be shipped to London for a Tate Modern retrospective of Banksy’s career.
He added that it would be re-installed at its current location on the side of an abandoned store in New Orleans, US, once the exhibition had finished.

But when local residents quizzed the men and ordered them to show a permit for the operation, they packed up their equipment and scarpered.
A security guard was installed at the scene on Friday to make sure the suspected thieves did not return.
Clay Lapeyrouse, who lives nearby, said: “They were cutting it out of the building. The story they gave me just seemed weird."

Police are now hunting the suspects, aged between 25 and 35, following the incident.
Banksy’s work fetches huge sums at auction, with his Kissing Coppers mural going under the hammer for £345,000 in the US last week.
Photo; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com

Filename: 24feb14-Banksy cuts003.JPG
Copyright: Charlie Varley http://www.varleypix.com/
Image Size: 280x532 / 161.9KB; http://www.varleypix.com/; new orleans orleans louisiana usa america americana big easy crescent city banksy street wall art graffiti district remove removal chop thief thieves steal crime criminal drill jackhammer attempted gang cut tate modern london gallery retrospective rampart kerlerec famous expensive show claudia woods the sun
Contained in galleries: Front Pages & Published work

24 February 2014. New Orleans, Louisiana.<br />
<br />
As reported in The Sun, London.<br />
<br />
Banksy ‘thieves’ busted cutting original grafitti art work from shop wall<br />
<br />
By JACK LOSH<br />
Last Updated: 24th February 2014<br />
<br />
A BOGUS construction crew were chased off after they were busted cutting an original Banksy from a wall.<br />
One of the gang, who called himself Chris, was caught holding a power drill half-way through extracting the work by the British street artist.<br />
<br />
Hidden by a temporary wall of plywood, he told snapper Charlie Varley that the 2008 artwork – dubbed “Umbrella Girl” – would be shipped to London for a Tate Modern retrospective of Banksy’s career.<br />
He added that it would be re-installed at its current location on the side of an abandoned store in New Orleans, US, once the exhibition had finished.<br />
<br />
But when local residents quizzed the men and ordered them to show a permit for the operation, they packed up their equipment and scarpered.<br />
A security guard was installed at the scene on Friday to make sure the suspected thieves did not return.<br />
Clay Lapeyrouse, who lives nearby, said: “They were cutting it out of the building. The story they gave me just seemed weird."<br />
<br />
Police are now hunting the suspects, aged between 25 and 35, following the incident.<br />
Banksy’s work fetches huge sums at auction, with his Kissing Coppers mural going under the hammer for £345,000 in the US last week.<br />
Photo; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com