LONDON (AP) — Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by street artist Banksy that was taken in a smash-and-grab raid on a London gallery.
The Metropolitan Police force said Friday that Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, are alleged to have taken “Girl with Balloon” from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night.
The suspects appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and were ordered detained until their next hearing on Oct. 9.
Surveillance camera footage showed a masked man smashing a glass door before dashing in and taking the picture from a wall. Police said they have recovered the work, which is valued in court documents at 270,000 pounds ($355,000). Nothing else was reported stolen.
The stolen work is one of several versions of “Girl with Balloon,” a stenciled image of a child reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon. Originally stenciled on a wall in east London, the picture has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images.
Another version partially self-destructed during a 2018 auction, passing through a shredder hidden in its frame just after it was purchased for 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) at Sotheby’s.
The self-shredded work, retitled “Love is in the Bin,” sold for 18.6 million pounds ($25.4 million at the time) in 2021.
Gallery manager Lindor Mehmetaj said he was “horrified and petrified” by the theft and grateful to have the picture back.
“We are very lucky, but it is very unusual to have it recovered,” he said, adding that the crime may have increased the work's value.
“Typically when fine art and masterpieces are stolen, the financial value can skyrocket," Mehmetaj said. “Hopefully, it is going to be the same for this Banksy."
Bansky, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, “Laugh now, but one day I’ll be in charge.”
His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals.
This summer a series of animal-themed stencils showed up around London. One of them, a howling wolf on a satellite dish, was removed by a masked man less than an hour after it was confirmed as authentic. An image of a gorilla at London Zoo and piranhas in a police sentry box in London’s financial district were both removed by the authorities for safekeeping.
A Banksy painting, Girl With Balloon, on display at the Grove Gallery in London after it was stolen on Sunday, then recovered and returned to the gallery, Friday Sept. 13, 2024. (James Manning/PA via AP)
FILE - A staff member poses for photographs with a print of "Girl with Balloon, 2004" by British street artist Banksy, at Bonhams auction house in London, Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Gunfire erupted as thousands of protesters in Haiti clashed with police on Wednesday as they denounced a surge in gang violence and demanded that the government keep them safe.
At least a dozen heavily armed protesters opened fire on officers who responded outside the offices of the prime minister and the transitional presidential council. An AP journalist at the scene did not see anyone injured or killed.
It is the first major protest to hit the administration of Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, whom the council appointed as prime minister in November.
The whizzing bullets caused the crowd to flee in panic, with shoes, caps and sunglasses left strewn on the street.
The protest began peacefully. Some demonstrators brandished machetes while others clutched tree boughs or waved palm fronds as they weaved through the streets of Port-au-Prince, where schools, banks and other businesses remained closed.
Flaming tires blocked roads as protesters chanted, “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go and get them out!”
One organizer, who covered his face and declined to give his name for fear of reprisal, said the purpose of the protest was to “take over the prime minister’s office and burn down the CPT,” referring to the offices of Haiti’s transitional presidential council.
Discontent and anger is spreading as gangs that already control 85% of Port-au-Prince pillage once-peaceful communities.
Recent gang violence has forced more than 60,000 people to flee their homes in one month alone, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration.
“We have never observed such large number of people moving in this short time,” said Grégoire Goodstein, the organization’s chief in Haiti.
In a visit to Port-au-Prince in early March, William O’Neill, the U.N. human rights commissioner’s expert on Haiti, described the capital as “an open-air prison.”
“There is no safe way to enter or leave the capital except by helicopter,” he said. “Gangs are invading previously safe neighborhoods, killing, raping and burning houses, businesses, churches and schools.”
Gangs also have pillaged communities beyond Port-au-Prince.
On Monday, they attacked the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti and stormed a prison, releasing more than 500 inmates. The attack on Mirebalais and the nearby town of Saut d'Eau left more than 5,900 people homeless, according to an IOM report released Wednesday.
A recent U.N. report found that more than 4,200 people were reported killed across Haiti from July to February, and another 1,356 were injured.
O’Neill has called on the international community to do more to support a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police that is helping Haitian officers quell gang violence.
However, the mission only has about 40% of the 2,500 personnel envisioned and has struggled to hold back gangs.
Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Protesters surround an Army vehicle during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Demonstrators run for cover from tear gas fired by police during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A woman sweeps debris next to a blazing barricade set up by demonstrators during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A motorcyclist rides past a burning car during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Protesters try to pull down a sign during a protest against insecurity in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
