Two 2008 Banksy murals in New Orleans defaced over Christmas

‘This public art piece is a source of comfort and joy,’ says local street art tour guide Carlos Fundora

Two murals from the world-renowned secretive street artist Banksy were defaced over the Christmas weekend in New Orleans.

The two murals, known as Umbrella Girl and The Gray Ghost, which were produced by the British artist in 2008, were discovered vandalised in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday, after holes were cut into the plastic coverings protecting the pieces and the artworks were tagged by red spray paint.

“Team Robbo” was spray-painted on the Umbrella Girl mural, while “King Robbo” was tagged on The Gray Ghost sometime between Christmas Eve and 26 December, according to NOLA.

Banksy’s iconic Umbrella Girl mural is thought to be symbolic of the failures of the city’s levee systems and flood walls to protect residents during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to the New York Post.

While The Gray Ghost is one of 15 stencil pieces put up by Banksy in New Orleans in 2008, which shows a man covering up a graffiti painting of a sunflower with grey paint.

The tags of “Robbo” are thought to be in reference to the late English graffiti writer King Robbo, who was believed to have feuded with Banksy from Christmas 2009 until his death in 2014.

Fans of Umbrella Girl spent hours on Saturday night erecting a plywood wall in front of the mural in order to protect it from any further attacks.

One of those fans, local street art tour guide Carlos Fundora, was contacted about the damage to the murals on Saturday, and he worked until midnight to remove a majority of the red paint, according to NOLA.

Passerbys initially attempted to stop Mr Fundora, as they thought he was defacing the artwork, but once others joined him they were able to help protect the murals and remove a majority of the paint.

Mr Fundora told the Post on Monday: “There are people out there who just don’t like Banksy, and others who see destroying his work as a way of making a name for themselves, but preserving this mural isn’t even about Banksy for me.”

He added: “The people of New Orleans have lost a lot this year because of the pandemic, and this public art piece is a source of comfort and joy for many of them.”

There have been several attempts since 2008 to deface Umbrella Girl, and just a few weeks ago someone spray-painted “Cantrel” on the protective plastic covering in red paint, according to NOLA.

While in 2014, an art thief was unsuccessful in his plan to saw the mural from the wall after locals spotted the noisy attempt and contacted the authorities.