Charges brought Two men allegedly stole Banksy painting

A girl and a heart-shaped balloon: Banksy's motif is world-famous. A picture has been stolen from a London gallery. Now two men have been charged with the theft.

Two men are alleged to have stolen one of British artist Banksy's best-known motifs from a gallery in London. "Girl With Balloon" shows a girl and a balloon in the shape of a heart.

According to court documents, the painting is worth the equivalent of around 300,800 francs. It was stolen during a burglary last Sunday evening, the Metropolitan Police said. The work was the only item stolen. It has been recovered and will be returned to the gallery.

The alleged perpetrators, aged 47 and 53, were charged with theft and released on conditional release. The next court hearing is scheduled for October 9.

Artist continues to cause a stir

Banksy's identity is not known - only that he comes from Bristol in the west of England. The street artist recently caused a stir when he published typical spray graffiti of animal motifs in various places in London for nine consecutive days.

Cat stretchingBanksy continues series of paintings in London - one work brazenly stolen

One of the works - a cat of prey in a satellite dish - was stolen, while some of the other works were moved to other locations for security reasons.

The Briton is considered one of the most expensive artists of our time. His works are sold for millions, including "Girl With Balloon". A copy of the motif fetched around 1.13 million francs at auction in 2018.

However, in a spectacular move, the work was cut into strips immediately after the auction by a shredder that had been built into the frame without anyone noticing. However, the hype was so great that the new version - called "Love is in the bin" - was auctioned off a few years later for a multiple of more than 19 million francs.

dpa