Banksy’s ’Girl With Balloon’ Thieves Arrested in London

The girl with the balloon flew away but returned unharmed. After three days of investigation, a copy of the famous work by street artist Banksy, stolen from a London art gallery on September 8, was found by police, and on September 11, two thieves were arrested.

The screen-printed work on paper, No. 72 from a limited edition of 150, signed by the artist and valued at €320,000, was part of the exhibition ’Breakout: Banksy’s London Rebellion’ at the Grove Gallery on New Cavendish Street in Fitzrovia.

The theft took place around 10pm on Sunday, the day after the exhibition closed. CCTV footage shows the black-clad thief vigorously smashing the gallery’s thick glass door with a heavy object, then kicking it down, before unhooking the work and carrying it away. All in 30 seconds, with a watch in hand!

But the two thieves, Larry Fraser, 47, and James Love, 53, were quickly identified by police thanks to witnesses and London street cameras. Arrested and charged with theft, they appeared in court in South London on Thursday, September 12, and were released on bail until their next hearing on October 9.

Once the work was found, gallery director Lindor Mehmetac cleverly capitalized on the media attention surrounding the theft. From Sunday, September 15, until Tuesday, September 17, Girl with Balloon is on display in the center of the gallery on an easel, still in the clear plastic bag in which it was returned by police. The event is called “The Last Viewing of Stolen Girl,” and tickets must be booked on the gallery’s website. Renamed “Stolen Girl,” its price has “skyrocketed,” according to its description page.

First seen in 2002 on Waterloo Bridge in South London and subsequently reproduced by the artist on paper and elsewhere, this work is one of the enigmatic British graffiti artist’s most famous. A young girl reaches for a red, heart-shaped helium balloon hanging on the end of a string, which appears to be drifting away from her, carried by the wind. Has she let go or is she trying to catch it? Simple and powerful, the image evokes hope, the loss of innocence and the fragility of dreams.

At auction in 2018, a copy of the painting sold for almost €1.2 million before self-destructing in front of buyers thanks to a shredding mechanism the mischievous artist had hidden inside the frame. This increased its value to almost €22 million at a subsequent sale and increased its already high popularity. In 2014, Canadian singer Justin Bieber tattooed a copy on his forearm, and in 2017, a Samsung poll named it the UK’s favourite work of art, ahead of iconic paintings by William Turner and John Constable.