London Zoo removes Banksy mural for ‘safekeeping’ after several defaced or stolen

London Zoo has taken down one of Banksy’s latest works for ‘safekeeping’ as another one of his graffiti was defaced.

‘Banksy woz ere,’ reads a sign in British slang next to a reproduction of the mural, which depicts a gorilla holding up a shutter allowing birds and a sea lion to flee.

The zoo in Regent’s Park said it removed the piece on its gate to preserve it and return its entrance to full operation after mobs of visitors came to see it.

‘We are thrilled by the joy this artwork has already brought to so many, but we are incredibly grateful to Banksy, for putting wildlife in the spotlight,’ the zoo’s COO Kathryn England said on its website. ‘

‘This has become a significant moment in our history that we’re keen to properly preserve.’

Bansky’s recent animal-themed artwork has included a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, a cat, piranhas, and a rhino.

The mural in the zoo is at least the fifth in the series to be stolen, moved or even defaced.

This comes as the elephant heads that appeared in Chelsea have been sprayed over.

Whoever did it does at least seem to have had some artistic idea behind it, as they sprayed white stripes onto one of the heads.

Neighbour Chiara Burrell, 20, noticed it had been defaced and said she felt ‘upset’ that someone had marked the artwork.

She said: ‘When it was in it’s original state I thought it was really cool. Just days later I went back ands saw the white lines.

‘I’m shocked and upset that someone has vandalised it to be honest.

‘I saw it from afar and I went closer and there were some people looking at it a bit funny and I started second guessing whether it was always there.

‘I think it’s vandalism but I’m not sure.’

The elephants appeared on Edith Terrace, near Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, earlier this month and caused excitement – although not for one dog walker, who strolled past without noticing and ended up pictured on Banksy’s own Instagram page.

Lucy Boultbee Brooks, 32, told Metro.co.uk: ‘There was no sign anyone had been there, or anything had been painted, and I feel a bit embarrassed to say I didn’t even see the elephants.’

It comes after another piece in the same series was vandalised with a white tag by a youth in a balaclava.

That one showed a rhinoceros mounting a Nissan Micra with a traffic cone placed on its hood like a horn.

It appeared on Westmoor Street, Charlton, near the Thames Barrier in south east London – but it wasn’t long before it became a target.

Another of his recent works, a howling wolf silhouetted on a satellite television dish on Rye Lane in Peckham, was stolen completely by a group of masked men within an hour of it being spotted.

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