Days After Theft, Gallery Displays Banksy Print in Evidence Bag

'Girl With Balloon' print, stolen from London gallery on Sunday, was quickly recovered
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2024 10:26 AM CDT
Days After Theft, Gallery Displays Banksy Print in Evidence Bag
A Banksy painting, Girl With Balloon, on display at the Grove Gallery in London after it was stolen on Sunday, then recovered and returned to the gallery, Friday Sept. 13, 2024.   (James Manning/PA via AP)

One of Banksy's most iconic images was stolen from a London gallery on Sunday. Four days later, Metropolitan Police announced they'd recovered the pricey Girl With Balloon print and charged two men in the burglary. Larry Fraser, 47, of east London, and James Love, 53, of North Stifford, Essex, are accused of breaking into Grove Gallery on New Cavendish Street around 11pm local time Sunday, per the BBC. The gallery said nearly $2.4 million worth of art was on display, but only the limited-edition Girl With Balloon print, valued at $350,000, was taken. "CCTV footage of the robbery shows a masked figure smashing the glass doors of the locked gallery and removing the work from the wall," reports Art Newspaper.

Manager Lindor Mehmetaj said he was "horrified" when he arrived at the gallery on Monday, finding broken glass and the print missing. It had been part of a Banksy exhibition at the gallery that ran from Aug. 21 to Sept. 7. Speaking with the BBC on Friday, Mehmetaj said the print had been recovered and returned to the gallery, where it was shown still wrapped in a police evidence bag. The "swift action" of the Met's Flying Squad, also known as the Robbery Squad, "was incredible from start to finish," added Grove Gallery CEO James Ryan, per the Independent. Police revealed the theft on Thursday, the same day Fraser and Love appeared in court. They were bailed and are next due before a judge on Oct. 9. (More art theft stories.)

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