Essex council hires security to guard Banksy-style mural

New artwork shows a boy holding a fishing rod with a blue mask attached to it

A council in Essex has put security at the site of a new artwork it suspects is by the mysterious artist Banksy.

The street art, which features a boy holding a fishing rod with a blue face mask attached to it, was first spotted early on Wednesday (18 August) on the sea wall at Stone Pier in Harwich.

A spokesman for Tendring District Council said: “We immediately put security in place and are taking further steps to protect this artwork as we await confirmation that it is indeed the latest piece of the artist’s ‘Spraycation’ in East Anglia.”

Throughout August, 10 different murals by Banksy have appeared in various locations across Norfolk and Suffolk, in what the artist has called “A Great British Spraycation”.

Banksy, who remains anonymous, is yet to claim the new artwork as his own.

The news comes after another of his murals was covered up amid fears it could be seen as insensitive following the death of a child nearby.

The artwork, which was left on a wall near Norfolk’s Gorleston beach, depicts two children on an inflatable dingy being launched into the air.

In 2018, three-year-old Ava-May Littleboy died on the beach after an inflatable trampoline she was riding on burst.

Great Yarmouth Borough council said it a statement that the decision to cover up the mural was “the right decision, respecting local people and feelings”.

However, it thanked Banksy for the artwork added that the council “fully appreciate these circumstances would not have been known by the artist”.

According to the council, it will be possible to restore the mural at a later date and relocate it to a “more suitable, alternative location”.

Earlier this week, another mural on the Suffolk coast, of a rat sipping a cocktail, was vandalised just two days after it was confirmed to be the work of the famous artist.

Picture credit: Alex WD Twitter