Germany’s last remaining Banksy mural has been destroyed by an unidentified vandal, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
The spray-painted stencil, titled “Bomb Hugger,” was one of four pieces left by the elusive artist when he visited Hamburg between 2002 and 2003. Within the following decade, three of those murals were ruined, which prompted a local arts foundation to place protective acrylic glass over “Bomb Hugger” in 2011. However, the covering didn’t deter the perpetrator from recently defacing the art on a concrete pillar. As shown in the image above, the vandal wrote the word “GRAFITTI” in blue spray paint over the mural; the heavy underline dripped underneath the protective glass, thus ruining the image of a little girl grasping a bomb.
The time and date of the defacement is unknown at this time, but reports on Twitter suggest it occurred about two weeks ago. As of now, Hamburg Police are not investigating the incident, and have told media outlets that the artwork was not damaged, even though photographs prove otherwise.
The Spiegelberger Foundation, which installed the protective cover four years ago, said its team is exploring restoration options and is currently thinking of new ways to protect it in the future.
This isn’t the first instance in which Banksy art has been vandalized. Last year, two pieces in Utah were destroyed, followed by two more in Los Angeles.
Let’s hope the Hamburg Police have a change of heart and take the steps to solve this crime.
[via Artlyst]
