A Thief in a Hazmat Suit Tried to Steal Banksy’s $6 Million Painting From a UK Hospital Just Days After the Generous Gift Was Installed

An opportunistic thief was
reportedly caught attempting to steal a Banksy work from a hospital
in Southampton, UK, just days after it was installed. The thief was
seen loitering around the painting in the early hours of May 8
carrying a drill and wearing a hazmat suit.

Had the burglar been successful,
the robbery would have not only deprived exhausted front-line
workers from a much-needed morale boost, but also potentially
deprived the National Health Service of millions in funds, as the
hospital has plans to auction the work this fall.

Hospital security guards threw
out the thief after noticing him scoping out the site on security
cameras. Police were not called to the scene.

“The man just walked in
brandishing a cordless drill,” a source told The Sun. A hospital spokesperson also confirmed the
attempted theft to the newspaper. “Security spotted him and asked a
supervisor if they should stop him. They were told to watch him and
he was seen walking past the picture at least five times, clearly
having a good look.”

Banksy had donated the
monochrome painting to the hospital on May 6, just two days before
the attempted heist. The monochromatic work,
called Game
Changer, depicts a young
boy playing with a nurse doll, while other superhero toys Batman
and Spiderman lie discarded in a trash can.

The artist left a note for the
hospital staff saying “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this
brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and
white.”

The hospital hopes to auction
the work this fall to raise money for the struggling NHS.
Banksy’s current auction record stands at $12
million, achieved by a
painting of a chimp-filled UK parliament, which sold at Sotheby’s
in October 2019. While the art market has been hit by the public
health situation, confidence in the street artist’s market has not
wavered as much as other markets, with some experts estimating
that the sale could generate more than $6 million in much-needed
funds.

The post A Thief in a Hazmat Suit Tried to Steal Banksy’s $6
Million Painting From a UK Hospital Just Days After the Generous
Gift Was Installed appeared first on artnet News.