Stolen Banksy artwork found in Italian farmhouse

Stolen Banksy artwork found in Italian farmhouse

A mural by secretive British street artist Banksy that was stolen from the Bataclan theatre in Paris, where Islamist militants killed 90 people in 2015, has been found in a farmhouse in central Italy, authorities said on Thursday.

Francis Maguire reports.

A Banksy mural that was stolen in Paris has been found in a farmhouse in central Italy.

The painting was one of a series painted in June 2018 in the French capital credited to the secretive British artist.

It was set on the side of the Bataclan Theatre - the site of an Islamist attack in 2015.

Police found the artwork on Wednesday (June 10) in the attic of a farmhouse in Teramo.

Italian prosecutor Michele Renzo said he is confident the artwork will be returned to Paris.

"On the future of this artwork.

There are obviously some necessary steps of international co-operation among police forces, but we are confident that in a reasonably short time, the artwork may be returned to the place where it belongs, which is where it was stolen from." Italian paper La Repubblica reported thieves stole the mural in January last year by apparently using portable grinders to remove a fire-exit door.

Police said Chinese citizens were living in the farmhouse where the mural was found, but they had no idea it was there.

They suspect the thief was an Italian man, but investigations are ongoing.

Banksy has become one of the best known personalities on the modern art scene.

He keeps his real identity secret and produces artworks in public spaces that mix street art with powerful political points.