Banksy’s howling wolf artwork removed less than an hour after unveiling

A Banksy artwork has been removed from an area in south London less than an hour after it was unveiled by the street artist.

On Thursday afternoon the Bristol-based artist, whose identity is unknown but widely speculated on, posted a photo of the artwork, a silhouette of a wolf howling on a satellite dish, to his Instagram.

The wolf artwork, located on the roof of a shop in Peckham, south-east London, is one of several pieces Banksy has unveiled this week, all with an animal theme, situated in different areas of London.

Its removal comes months after Banksy unveiled another art piece in Peckham that was taken down in less than an hour after it was confirmed as authentic.

A witness to the removal of the satellite dish told the PA news agency that it was taken by three men and said it was a “great shame”.

In photos from the scene on Thursday a person can be seen climbing up a ladder to retrieve the art piece while another holds the ladder for them.

Further images show an individual, wearing denim shorts, walking off with it.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: “We were called to reports of a stolen satellite dish containing artwork at 1.52pm on Thursday, 8 August in Rye Lane, Peckham.

“There have been no arrests. Inquiries continue.”

Tom Kellow, who lives in Peckham, said he had decided to walk down to see the artwork on his lunch break.

He said: “I was walking down around 1pm and saw three guys nicking it.

“They had a ladder. There was one guy on the roof and the other two were watching the ladder.

“They saw me filming and it got a bit tetchy. One gave me a kick in the side and another tried to throw my phone on the roof.

“Luckily it hit a tree and came back down again.

“I told a police officer in the area about it.

“It’s a great shame we can’t have nice things and it’s a shame it couldn’t have lasted more than an hour.”

The first piece of graffiti in Banksy’s new animal-themed series, which was unveiled on Monday, is based near Kew Bridge in south-west London and shows a goat with rocks falling down below it, just above where a CCTV camera is pointed.

On Tuesday, the artist added another design to the collection: silhouettes of two elephants with their trunks stretched toward each other on the side of a building near Chelsea.

This was followed by a trio of monkeys looking as though they were swinging from underneath a bridge over Brick Lane, near a vintage clothing shop in the popular east London market street, not far from Shoreditch High Street.

The primates have been associated with the Japanese proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.

In Banksy’s work the monkeys are not covering their eyes, ears or mouths.

He did not write a caption for any of the photos, posted to his Instagram, which has fuelled speculation online about their meaning.

The work follows a migrant boat created by Banksy, which was crowdsurfed at Glastonbury Festival in June, during performances by Bristol indie punk band Idles and rapper Little Simz.

It was described by then-home secretary James Cleverly as “trivialising” small boats crossings and “vile”, but the artist responded saying his reaction was a “a bit over the top”.

In March, the artist created a tree mural in north London, which saw a tree cut back with green paint sprayed behind it to give the impression of foliage.

In December the artist posted to his social media to confirm that a traffic stop sign in Peckham, covered with three aircraft said to resemble military drones, had been created by him.

Less than an hour after it was confirmed as a genuine installation witnesses saw the artwork being removed by a man with bolt cutters.