Masked thieves steal new Banksy howling wolf artwork in Peckham
Masked thieves take newly unveiled Banksy artwork from Peckham rooftop
Masked individuals have stolen a newly unveiled Banksy artwork of a howling wolf within hours of its appearance. Painted on a satellite dish atop a graffiti-covered building on Rye Lane in Peckham, southeast London, it was the fourth in a series of animal-themed pieces that surfaced across the city this week. The official Banksy Instagram account shared images of the artwork taken during the day and evening.
New Banksy artwork stolen in Peckham hours after it appeared
Banksy’s latest animal-themed artwork has been stolen from London just hours after it went on display.
The latest piece is a stencil of a wolf howling towards the sky, painted on what appears to be a satellite dish on… pic.twitter.com/2x6XgZ9dpr
— tut0ugh (@tut0ugh) August 8, 2024
Shortly after the reveal, individuals wearing balaclavas approached the building with a ladder, climbed up, and removed the dish. Photographs from the scene show the masked individuals, one in denim shorts and another in tracksuit bottoms, walking away with the stolen artwork.
The Metropolitan Police reported the theft of the satellite dish mere hours after its unveiling. “We were called to reports of a stolen satellite dish containing artwork at 1.52pm on Thursday, 8 August in Rye Lane, Peckham,” stated the police. “There have been no arrests. Inquiries continue.”
Banksy’s confirmed artworks have appeared daily across London this week. On Monday, an ibex goat was spotted above a CCTV camera near Kew Green in west London. Tuesday saw a stencil of two elephants greeting each other from bricked-up windows in Chelsea. Yesterday, three monkeys were seen swinging from a train bridge over Brick Lane in east London, near Shoreditch High Street. These primates, unlike the traditional Japanese proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” did not cover their eyes, ears, or mouths.
Banksy typically spaces out his artworks over months, leading to much speculation about the significance of this week’s daily releases. The anonymous artist has not provided captions for any of the shared photos, maintaining an air of mystery.
In June, Banksy made headlines with a migrant boat installation released over the crowd at Glastonbury during performances by Idles and Little Simz. Earlier this year, in March, Banksy created a mural in north London featuring green paint mimicking tree foliage behind a bare tree. In December, he confirmed creating a traffic stop sign covered with three aircraft resembling military drones in Peckham. This artwork was removed by a man with bolt cutters less than an hour after its appearance.
