Last month, two UK owners paid a lot of money to get rid of a piece of graffiti that showed up on their property out of the blue in August 2021. Garry and Gokean Coutts found out that the famous street painter had used their Suffolk home as a canvas when their renters told them that scaffolding had suddenly appeared outside. The next day, the scaffolding was gone and a Banksy mural of a seagull had taken its place. Now, they think it will cost them about $247,000 to let the bird fly. "At first, it was obviously amazing," Garry said about the piece of art, which could be worth millions of dollars. "But as time has gone on, things have gotten much worse. I don't think Banksy is aware of the unintended effects his art has on homes. We would go back in time if we could."
A person from the local council told the couple that it could put a "preservation order" on the artwork and make the couple pay tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep it in good shape. Someone stole part of it and tried to sell it on Facebook, so Garry had to hire a night watchman to keep an eye on it. "Another time, vandals were caught with a dozen pots of white paint. They were apparently going to paint over it." The Coutts chose to get rid of it because it was more trouble than it was worth to be known as the owners of an original Banksy. In April, they paid a construction company to strengthen the wall where the seagull was seen. Then, they used a 40-foot crane to take it down in one piece.
Jean Dubreil