Banksy’s new cat artwork could be ‘taken down and thrown in a skip’

By Jon Brady and Lettice Bromovsky Published: 14:57 EDT, 10 August 2024 | Updated: 15:24 EDT, 10 August 2024 A new Banksy artwork is being taken down by hired contractors just hours after it appeared on a billboard in London – and could end up in a skip if it isn’t donated to an art gallery. The black silhouette of a large cat stretching on an abandoned signage appeared in Cricklewood, north London overnight – with the artist confirming he was behind it with an Instagram post, as is his normal style. But hours later, men who said they were ‘hired’ from a ‘contracting company’ turned up in Cricklewood to take the hoarding down for safety reasons. A contractor, who only wanted to give his name as Marc, said they were going to pull the boarding down on Monday and replace it, but the removal had been brought forward to Saturday in case someone ‘rips it down and leaves it unsafe’. He told the PA news agency: ‘We’ll store that bit (the artwork) in our yard to see if anyone collects it but if not it’ll go in a skip. I’ve been told to keep it careful in case he...