Where to draw the line?
April 30th 2007 Fans of world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy were disappointed to hear cleaners in London have whitewashed a piece of his art estimated to be worth around £250, 000.
The mural, which has been visible on the side of an electricity substation near the Old Street tube station for around five years now, depicts the scene from the Quentin Tarantino movie Pulp Fiction in which Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are holding bananas as guns.
Reclusive graffiti artist Banksy is famous the world over and his work has attracted celebrity buyers including Angelina Jolie and Jude Law. This was considered to be one of his most famous pieces.
The BBC reports that the picture was also a real draw to the area with local shop owner George Thomas commenting: "People used to come from all over to see it and photograph it. It was a hugely original piece of art"
In response to criticism for erasing the mural, Transport for London, whose workers were responsible for the white-washing was unapologetic, saying it was necessary to take a tough line to remove all graffiti that creates an atmosphere of "neglect and social decay which encourages crime".
"We recognise that there are those who view Banksy's work as legitimate art," commented the TfL, "but sadly our graffiti removal teams are staffed by professional cleaners not professional art critics." More articles from Cleaning Matters: | 
