LONDON — Two alleged art thieves will appear in court in London next month accused of stealing “Girl With Balloon,” a famous painting by the mysterious British street artist Banksy.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that two men were charged with burglary after an investigation by the force’s Flying Squad, which combats serious and organized crime.
Larry Fraser, 47, from east London, and James Love, 53, from Essex, were both charged with non-residential burglary and placed in police custody on Thursday.
The pair also appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates Court yesterday and were told to reappear at Kingston Crown Court on Oct. 9. They have yet to enter an official plea.
The artwork — which shows a little girl letting go of, or perhaps reaching out for, a heart-shaped balloon — was stolen from a gallery in central London on Sept. 8 at 11:00 p.m, police said.
The painting was the only item stolen and police said it had been recovered and would be returned to the gallery.
Banksy rose to fame in the 2000s with darkly comic and satirical street art in the west English city of Bristol and in the capital, often made with spray paint and distinctive stencils.
“Girl With Balloon” first appeared in multiple places around London in 2002, although versions have also appeared on London’s South Bank in 2004 and at Israel’s border with the occupied West Bank in 2005.
A printed version of the image was sold at auction in 2018 for $1.4 million, but the frame secretly had a shredder installed by the artist which destroyed the bottom half of the painting at the moment the gavel fell to confirm the sale.
The partly-shredded artwork then rocketed in value thanks to the anarchic prank and was later sold for $25 million in 2021.
The latest artworks from Banksy were a series of animal paintings dotted around London last month. He has never confirmed his real identity.