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Four days after a brand new Banksy appeared on Christie Court on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, the immediately world-famous mural was defaced with white paint.
Now locals have discovered the painting, which uses bright green paint splatters to depict the leaves of a tree, has been hidden behind plastic and wooden boards.
Here is everything we know so far about this new Banksy so far.
Where is the new Banksy in London?
It’s been painted on the side of Christie Court, a building on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London. The mural consists of streaks of green paint to create ‘leaves’ behind a bare tree which is next to the building, with a figure standing in the bottom corner, who’s holding a pressure hose.
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What does the mural represent?
According to James Peak, creator of BBC Radio 4 series The Banksy Story: ‘The message is clear. Nature’s struggling and it is up to us to help it grow back.’
Given it’s now spring, the tree should be sprouting leaves, and Peak thinks the artist might have cycled past and noticed how miserable it looks. The colour of the paint actually matches the green used for the Islington Council signs in the area, which Peak thinks is another tell-tale sign this is a Banksy, due to the attention to detail.
What’s been said about the tree mural so far?
Flora Williamson, the Islington Councillor for the area, tweeted ‘By far the most exciting thing to happen on today’s canvass session on Hornsey Road was seeing that Banksy had come to Tollington overnight. Lots of local interest – I’m a fan of it.’
And residents were pretty excited too. ‘Proud new caretakers of an apparent new #Banksy piece in Finsbury Park… Woke up this morning to it on the side of the flat,’ said one on X.
Paul Drinot said ‘This is the best thing that’s happened to the Hornsey Road in years,’ according to the BBC. Although, not everyone was so optimistic – another resident said ‘Banksy came overnight and now my rent will skyrocket.’
However, the owner of the block of flats, Christie Court, Alex Georgiou has promised he won't put the rent up, but did admit he could be tempted to sell the building. ‘If somebody offered me millions and they can have the building and take the flats with it,’ he said.
When was the new Banksy artwork defaced?
Hornsey resident Matt McKenna, 35, saw the newly painted mural had had white paint thrown over it on Wednesday March 20. McKenna told the BBC that it was a ‘real shame’ to see the famous artwork tampered with already.
Why was the Banksy covered up?
The building's owner Alex Georgiou took matters into his own hands by covering the mural with plastic boards and big pieces of wood.
Previously, Islington Council said it was installing CCTV cameras and looking at other ways to protect the work, saying it wanted it to ‘stay’.
A spokesperson for the council told the BBC: ‘We've had a lot of concerns from our residents about disruption from the numbers of visitors to the artwork, which is right outside their homes.
‘We will monitor and review arrangements at the site, and will continue to explore future solutions with the building owner so people can enjoy the artwork.’
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