Protecting Banksy Murals Is a Complicated and Sometimes Costly Matter

Banksy’s newest mural appeared in London on March 17. Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu via Getty Images Earlier this week, residents of London’s Islington North area were shocked and delighted to find a mural by the elusive Banksy adorning one of their local buildings. But just two days later, the work was defaced. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence for the anonymous street artist’s public and occasionally political works. Despite fetching seven-figure sums at auction, Banksy’s art is typically found in vulnerable and open spaces, as opposed to being safely guarded behind museum or gallery walls. His most recent painting, which depicts vibrant abstract foliage placed strategically behind a barren tree, was vandalized with white paint that appears to have been tossed over the mural. “There’s only one way to describe it: wanton vandalism,” Gil Ben-ari, an 80-year-old Londoner, told the Guardian. The work was vandalized with white paint shortly after it was confirmed as a Banksy. Leon Neal/Getty Images Banksy’s creation went up on March 17, with the artist confirming it as his own in an Instagram post the following day. Depicting a stenciled figure holding a paint sprayer, the burst of green paint matches the color used by Islington Council for...