In the middle of the war conflict that the country maintains against Russia, on January 3, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office reported that a group of people tried to steal one of the peculiar works created by the British street artist Banksy located in a building abandoned in Hostómel, on the outskirts of kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
As reported by Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of kyiv, the thieves tried to remove one of the seven murals painted by the famous 48-year-old graffiti artist in that country. The piece they tried to cut from the building was Woman in dressing gown with a gas maskfact for which a person was arrested and will face a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
The authorities detailed that the suspect, with the help of several men, cut the part of the wall that supported Banksy’s work, a piece of wall that they immediately wrapped in plastic to prevent it from suffering any damage or deterioration. Despite their attempt to steal the piece, the police did not give them a chance to even get it into the car, since they were discovered by elements of the Military Administration and one person was arrested on the spot.
It is worth mentioning that the governor of kyiv assured that, although it was cut from the facade of the building damaged by the fire that occurred in the city of Hostómel, the artist’s work did not end with any damage. In addition, he emphasized that for now all Banksy’s works are under surveillance by the police.
After all, these images are a symbol of our fight against the enemy. These are stories about the support and solidarity of the entire civilized world with Ukraine. Let’s do our best to preserve street art as a symbol of our future victory.
– Oleksiy Kuleba
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry assured that it will continue with the pertinent investigations to find the others involved in the theft of the mural, valued by the authorities at 244,000 dollars. In addition, he stated that the detainees will be prosecuted and could face a sentence of up to 12 years in prison for their crime.
This is not the first time they have tried to steal this graffiti, since, according to the police chief of the Ukrainian capital, last December, eight men between the ages of 27 and 60, residents of the city of kyiv and Cherkasi They did their thing and tried to take the famous work of the urban artist.