Council REMOVES part of Banksy’s Valentine’s Day masterpiece ‘for health and safety reasons’

The latest confirmed Banksy painting in Margate has been removed, just hours after the famous graffiti artist announced online that it was his handiwork. 

The artwork, which appeared on the back of a building just off Grosvenor Place, was confirmed as a genuine Banksy this morning, prompting huge crowds to flock to the seaside town to see it in person. 

But just hours after Banksy shared the artwork on his Instagram page, contractors moved in and carted away the freezer that formed a vital part of the piece.

Footage shared online shows two contractors removing parts of the physical aspects of the painting before stepping in to remove the freezer itself. 

It is claimed it was removed due to health and safety issues. 

MailOnline has contacted Thanet Council for comment.  

The world-famous graffiti artist’s latest artwork shows a battered 1950s housewife  wearing a blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves pushing her male partner into a chest freezer.

Just hours after Banksy shared the artwork on his Instagram page, contractors moved in and carted away the freezer that formed a vital part of the piece.

The painting, which many have speculated is off Grosvenor Place in Margate, Kent, appears to show a 1950s housewife wearing a blue pinny and yellow washing up gloves pushing her partner into a chest freezer.

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In the image, the woman also has a swollen eye and a missing tooth

The woman in the Banksy painting, which is called ‘Valentine’s Day mascara’ and is located off Grosvenor Place in Margate, Kent, also has a swollen eye and a missing tooth.

The artwork also features rubbish on the ground in front of it, including a broken white garden chair, a blue crate and an empty beer bottle, all of which have now been removed. 

Dan Bambridge-Higgins, who captured the moment the freezer was taken away, tweeted: ‘You can’t get them to sort out any fly tipping but hilariously sad that the instant reaction to a new Banksy in Margate by @ThanetCouncil is to remove it!’ 

The original post to Banksy’s 11.8 million Instagram followers confirming the piece was his was shared to Banksy’s 11.8million Instagram followers has already generated hundreds of thousands of likes and comments. 

The title is a play on the infamous prohibition-era Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929, when seven members and associates of Chicago’s North Side Gang were gunned down. 

Many have speculated that the latest Bansky has appeared off Grosvenor Place in Margate, Kent

It is rumoured the latest Banksy is in Margate, Kent, given the white background of the painting

Locals in Margate have begun to gather at the site of the latest Banksy artwork 

Sightseers have been gathering at the property off Grosvenor Place in Margate, Kent since it was revealed this morning 

One eagle-eyed local in Margate claimed to have spotted the person responsible, as speculation mounted Banksy might live in the county.  

‘This was done yesterday morning, there were a couple of gentleman – one doing the work, and another one videoing him,’ she said.  

It is believed the artwork is a means of shedding light on the issues of violence against women.   

According to the Office for National Statistics: ‘In the year ending March 2020, the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated 1.6 million women aged 16 to 74 years in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse, around 7 per cent of the female population.’

Banksy has used Kent buildings as his canvas on more than one occasion – recently in other seaside towns such as Folkestone and Dover. 

His Brexit-themed Dover piece portrayed the image of a workman on a ladder chipping away one of the stars of the EU flag. The artwork, which was valued at £1 million, was controversially painted over, leaving a giant white square in its place.  

Banksy has previously painted artwork on Valentine’s Day. In 2020, he confirmed artwork that appeared in Bristol of a girl firing red flowers made with spray-painted ivy from a catapult was his. 

The piece was extra special as it featured 3D flowers attached to the wall. 

Local artist Pete Brown, 55, came to paint the sea but instead opted to capture the scene of the artwork

Sightseers have been gathering at the site of the latest Banksy which was confirmed by the artist this morning 

Property tenant, Polla Maria Oberscziam, stands in the doorway of her home where the new artwork is now situated 

It is believed the artwork is a means of shedding light on the issues of violence against women

The piece was subsequently vandalised, which prompted the owners of the house on which the graffiti was stencilled to cover over one part of the ruined artwork while encasing the other in a transparent box to prevent further damage.

A brand new tag depicting a masked man attempting to pry away the covering with a crowbar appeared at the site last year, fuelling speculation that Banksy himself may have reappeared to graffiti the same location almost two years on.

However, nothing was confirmed as the artist did not post anything about it on his account. 

In December, the anonymous graffiti artist announced they had created 50 screenprints which would be sold to raise funds for a charity supporting the people of Ukraine. 

Banksy previously confirmed they had spent time in Ukraine after posting a video of an artist spray-painting designs in the war-torn country and speaking to locals.

In a piece the artist shared online, a female gymnast can be seen balancing on her hands on rubble at the bottom of a an apartment building, which has been completely gutted by Russian shelling. 

Speculation had been mounting that the anonymous graffiti icon was in the war-torn country after a series of murals appeared in the town of Borodyanka, about an hour’s drive north-west of the capital.

Pictured: The Banksy piece in Dover, a busy port that connects England with Calais in France

The original artwork was revealed on Valentine’s Day 2020 in the Barton Hill area of Bristol, Banksy’s home town

Another showed two children using a metal tank trap as a seesaw, while a separate piece in nearby Irpin showed a rhythmic gymnast waving a ribbon while wearing a neck brace. 

However, the mural which Banksy chose to share with his Instagram followers was that of the female gymnast balancing on a damaged building.

He later shared a video on his Instagram account which showed him completing the artworks in Ukraine.