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A charity shop manager who watched Banksy’s artwork being stolen from above her Peckham shop has said it’s “a shame”.
Alexandria O’Neill, manager at Chartwell Cancer Trust, said the store gets less footfall than others on Rye Lane and would like to see the piece returned.
“Had it been here now we would have got so many people coming to see it,” she said, adding: “It’s a shame in that sense.”
On Thursday, the artist posted a photo on Instagram of a howling wolf on a satellite dish atop a derelict building next to the charity shop.
But dideos posted to social media appear to show a group of men making off with the piece just 45 minutes later.
The Metropolitan Police said it had been called to reports of a “stolen satellite dish containing artwork” but no arrests had been made.
Ms O’Neill remains optimistic that the debacle will help business. “It’s a lot quieter at this end [of Rye Lane] so I’m hoping it will pick things up,” she said.
She said the satellite dish was not there before so must have also been placed there by the guerilla artist.
It is the fifth Banksy artwork to appear in London in as many days with others spotted in Walthamstow, Chelsea, Shoreditch and Kew.
Ms O’Neill continued: “I saw a lot of commotion outside. I didn’t go out at first because I didn’t want to go in the middle of it and somebody said it looks like they’re stealing some art. Once it cleared and they ran away I asked what was going on.
“I was like what the hell! I said imagine if it’s a Banksy as a joke! Then it really was! I saw it happening but I didn’t know what was happening!”
“We’ve had so many people say it’s a setup, the stealing of it…. There was paparazzi already there who claimed they were anticipating it.”
Asked if she would like to see it returned, she said: “Oh yeah absolutely. Why not?”
This is not the first time a Banksy artwork has gone missing immediately in Peckham.
On Friday, December 22, a Banksy artwork was taken from a lampost on Southampton Way moments after being unveiled.
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