Banksy’s ‘No Ball Games’ mural removed from London wall
A Banksy mural that has long adorned a British shop wall has been removed, likely to be auctioned off.
This marks the second time this year that graffiti from the famous (or infamous) street artist has vanished in north London.
“Slave Labour,” a piece depicting a young boy stitching Union Jack flags, was stripped from a shop wall and sold at a private auction in June for $1.1 million, despite protests from residents and the art world.
ART: Can you guess the high price?
“No Ball Games,” which shows two stenciled children with their hands lifted toward the floating title, first appeared in 2009 on a the wall of a Tottenham neighborhood convenience store.
Residents became concerned last week when scaffolding went up around the mural, which is among Banksy’s better known works.
The piece has popped up on the website of the Sincura Group, the London-based concierge service that sold “Slave Labour” on behalf of the owners of the Poundland discount shop that it adorned.
The sellers of “No Ball Games,” which Sincura declined to name, seem to have charity in mind.
Profits from the mural’s sale will benefit London’s Step by Step, an organization that works with disabled children, according to Sincura’s site.
Before going up for auction, the mural will be “one of three controversial headline pieces” in Sincura’s 2014 art exhibition.
Banksy has said he believes his art should remain where he left it -- on the street.
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