Banksy's work is stolen less than an hour after its discovery

Two men have been filmed taking Banksy's work from a south London street, less than an hour after it was confirmed as an original work by the artist. The artist himself had confirmed the authorship

The work, which features three airplanes on a traffic stop sign in Peckham, has been confirmed on Instagram to be by Banksy. Two men have been filmed taking Banksy's work from a south London street, less than an hour after it was confirmed as an original work by the artist. The artist himself confirmed the authorship - a stop traffic sign, with three planes on it, said to be a reference to military aircraft - in a social media post on Friday midday.

In a video shared on social media, viewers can see two men taking down the sign at a junction between Southampton Way and Commercial Way in Peckham at around 12pm.

Witnesses can be heard saying "oh my God" in the background as one of the men runs a stop sign and runs away. A woman's voice is heard saying: "This bothers me a lot."

It is learned that Banksy had nothing to do with this kidnapping.

A compilation of the photos were published on the artist's Instagram page, without a caption or explanation, but thus confirming its authorship.

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Because of the artist's fame, selling a stolen work of his can be difficult. Last year, three men in their 30s were jailed in France for stealing and looting a Banksy painting that was a tribute to the victims of the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

Six months later, in another incident, eight people were arrested for stealing a mural painted by an inaccessible street artist from a wall on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukrainian authorities said.

Banksy will issue certificates of authenticity for works of art that are not considered stolen or improperly obtained by individuals, through the Pest Control team, which is responsible for authenticating the works.

In 2019, a man who took a Banksy sculpture from a plinth in central London contacted police after it was stolen and displayed at Sotheby's auction house.

The auction house's notes to The Drinker say the work was "mysteriously recovered" suggesting it was taken by Banksy or his associates and, after consulting the police, Sotheby's announced it was satisfied that the seller had the legal right to auction the work.

The plane in the stop sign resembled the planes from Banksy's 2017 artwork Civilian Drone Strike, which features a trio of drones bombing a child's drawing of a house. It was auctioned off at the Art The Arms fair and raised £205 (€236) for the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. Banksy has produced several other works this year, including Valentine's Day Mascara, a 3.8-tonne mural that appeared on the side of a house in Margate, Kent, on Valentine's Day. The mural depicted a bulging-eyed, toothless 1950s housewife wearing an apron and yellow gloves throwing a man into a refrigerator.

In September, it was installed in the lobby of the Art of Banksy exhibition on Regent Street in central London, where it can be viewed for free.

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Taken from "The Guardian". Translated by: Enis Bytyqi