Banksy’s London unicorn artwork defaced with graffiti | Banksy

One of nine murals installed by Banksy in London has been defaced within days.

A photo of a rhinoceros riding in a vintage Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet appeared in southeast London on Monday and has been confirmed as the work of Banksy on the artist’s Instagram account.

Later in the evening, a man wearing a mask and holding a can of white paint was filmed spraying a sign at her as the crowd shouted: “Don’t do that.”

A ninth animal artwork outside London Zoo was confirmed as being by Banksy on Tuesday morning. The work shows a gorilla appearing to lift a painted shutter, allowing birds and seals to escape, while the eyes of other animals are hidden in the darkness.

The graffiti on the rhino appears to be a dollar sign and the letter V. Banksy is not very popular among street artists due to his mainstream success and his use of stencils rather than freehand painting.

One witness, Devan Vadukul, He told the BBC: “A ‘random young man’ brazenly advanced on the facility and defaced it with graffiti.”

“The entire incident happened in less than 30 seconds before he disappeared with another male accomplice somewhere on the road,” Vadukul said.

Banksy uploaded images of painted animals in London over nine consecutive days.

His first work, on August 5, was a goat standing on a wall, followed by silhouettes of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, a swan and a cat.

Banksy confirmed on Sunday that he was behind the addition of a school of piranhas to a police guard box in London.

Barriers were placed around the box, and the City of London Corporation said the artwork had been moved to a “safe location”.

A company spokesperson said: “We have moved the artwork to the Guildhall to ensure it is properly protected and open to the public for safe viewing. A permanent home for the work will be identified in due course.”