Banksy left the building. In August 2021, unwitting landlords Garry and Gokean Coutts learned from tenants that their building in Lowestoft, UK had been graced with a new piece of bird art, courtesy of the secret artist”Great British Sprayseries. They had seen the anonymous scaffolding erected, but assumed it was for municipal repairs to their chimney.

The work inflated the value of the property, but brought just as much hassle. Lowestoft City Council, keen to protect the new tourist attraction, told the owners it could put a preservation order on the works, but they would have to maintain them at an annual cost of £40,000 ($49,000 ).

Art lovers began lining up to see the mural. “I had to hire a night watchman to take care of it after someone stole some of it and tried to sell it on Facebook,” Mr Coutts said. The daily mail.

Someone else tried to remove the scaffolding. Other vandals, armed with white paint and intending to cover the work, were intercepted. “At first it was obviously amazing, but as things progressed it became extremely stressful,” Coutts concluded. “I’m not sure Banksy realizes the unintended consequences on landlords.”

An attendant takes a photo of visitors next to another Banksy seagull-based work at the artist’s Dismaland Bemusement Park, which opened on August 28, 2015 in Weston-Super-Mare, England. Photo: Jim Dyson/Getty Images.

Lowestoft City Council has not commented on its responsibility to help care for the artwork. For those left with questions, Sacramento-based David Sobon, who worked with his city to stage Wide Open Walls Mural Festival since 2016, noted: “In my experience, most cities cannot make decisions quickly, there is too much bureaucracy.

In April, the couple hired a 40ft crane to transport the 50,000 pound wall – art and all –costing them £200,000 ($246,300). Spectators lamented the move.

Local art dealer John Brandler wanted to preserve the mural in an art trail or museum. “Banksy has given the city the most incredible gift,” he said. the daily mail. “It must be worth seven figures.” The Coutts plan to sell the piece to recoup their losses, promising to replace it with a replica.

The council acknowledged that it was within the couple’s right to remove the work from their property and that “Banksy works, by their nature, may not always be permanent items”.

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