Two men charged with burglary of Banksy artwork 'Girl with Balloon' after London gallery theft
The Metropolitan Police has said that two people have been charged with burglary after a famous Banksy painting was stolen from a London gallery.
Lucy Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, were charged by cops with non-residential burglary and remanded in police custody following the incident, which took place at a Gallery on New Cavendish Street, west London at around 11pm on Sunday evening (September 8).
The famous ‘Girl with Balloon’ painting was the only item stolen from the gallery and has since been recovered. The artwork will be returned to the gallery.
The artwork was created by the famed graffiti artist in the early 2000s, first being placed at London’s Southbank and Waterloo Bridge in 2002. One famous moment saw the artwork shredded by a hidden shredder in the frame immediately after it was sold at Sotherby’s auction for just over £1,000,000.
Fraser, of Evelyn Denington Road, Beckton, east London, and Love, of Elvin Drive, North Stifford, appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (September 12). They were both bailed in advance of a trial at Kingston Crown Court, beginning on October 9.