A new Banksy artwork that sprung up at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is being scrubbed off.
The mural depicted a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard, while a judge, dressed in a wig and gown, loomed over him while wielding a gavel.
The work was first seen on Monday on an external wall of the Queen’s Building, part of the Royal Courts of Justice complex.
It was covered up and guarded by security staff, with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) taking the decision to remove it due to the building being listed and therefore legally protected.
It is understood that work began to remove the image on Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday.
Good Law Project posted on X about the artwork’s removal, stating: “The court is erasing Banksy’s mural just like it’s erasing our right to protest.
“It only took 48 hours for the Royal Courts of Justice to scrub out a Banksy showing a judge striking down a protester with his gavel.
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“Silencing a work of art about silencing protest? Maybe it was a little too close to home.”
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Banksy confirmed he was responsible for the work with a post on Instagram, showing the graffiti before it was covered over.
The artist, whose identity is the source of constant speculation, captioned the pictures: “Royal Courts Of Justice. London.”
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Banksy is known for his graffiti and performance art pranks.
His Love Is In The Bin artwork – which famously shredded itself after being sold in 2018 – sold at auction in 2021 for £18.5m.
Elsewhere, a Banksy mural removed from the wall of a former shop in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 2021 was later sold for an undisclosed sum.
At the time, experts said it could have fetched hundreds of thousands of pounds, with rumours swirling it may have gone for up to £2m.
Banksy’s stencilled graffiti is often a comment on political issues, and many of his pieces are critical of government policy, war and capitalism.
The artwork comes after almost 900 demonstrators were arrested for protesting in central London on Saturday against the banning of Palestine Action as a terror group.
It was proscribed by the UK government under anti-terror laws earlier this year.
It makes membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, while even wearing a T-shirt or badge with the group’s name on could attract a maximum six-month sentence.
The ban came shortly after two Voyager aircraft suffered around £7m worth of damage at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June.
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Banksy’s artwork also came weeks after the Lady Chief Justice, the most senior judge in England and Wales, repeated concerns for the safety of judges, who she said had been subjected to “increasingly unacceptable sensationalist and inaccurate abuse”.
The work was reported as criminal damage, with the Metropolitan Police stating that inquiries were ongoing.
A HMCTS spokesperson said: “The Royal Courts of Justice is a listed building and HMCTS are obliged to maintain its original character.”
