Banksy’s artwork depicting a school of piranhas swimming on a City of London police box is to be moved to a “secure location”, according to correspondence from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
The work, located in Ludgate Hill at the Old Bailey, was the elusive artist’s seventh new design in the capital in the past week. Banksy confirmed it was his own in an Instagram post on Sunday. An eighth, showing a rhino assembling a car in Charlton, has since also been uncovered.
Barriers were then erected around it by the local governing body, the City of London Corporation, in an attempt to protect the site from criminal damage, along with 24/7 security.
The city has previously said it is working through options to “preserve” the work. Now an internal email sent to members on behalf of City Surveyor, Paul Wilkinson, indicates it will be moved to a new location.
According to the email, seen by LDRS, a full site visit was scheduled to take place this morning (August 12), before the structure was moved “to a secure location”.
“City Police and City Corporation colleagues will continue to work together to ensure there is an appropriate level of police support in place while the police box is out of service,” Wilkinson’s email continued.
Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Corporation reiterated its earlier statement, saying: “We are aware of the work at the City of London Police Box on Ludgate Hill. We are currently working through options to preserve the artwork.” They have not confirmed where it will be moved to.
The piranhas were the seventh in a series of animal artworks attributed to Banksy that have appeared around London over the past week. In addition to the fish, they include silhouettes of a goat with stones falling under it, elephants and pelicans.
A piece depicting a cat stretching was removed from a Cricklewood sign on Saturday, while another, of a howling wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham, was taken by suspected thieves.
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