Banksy Reveals Why He's 'Kind Of Glad' His Latest Mural Was Vandalized

The elusive street artist's Valentine's Day piece was defaced within 48 hours of appearing on a wall in Bristol, England.
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Banksy isn’t bothered by the vandalism of his latest mural.

In fact, the elusive British street artist revealed on Instagram Thursday he was “kind of glad” his stencil of a young girl firing a slingshot at a bunch of flowers in his home city of Bristol, southwest England, was defaced with spray paint.

It was because “the initial sketch was a lot better,” explained Banksy, who shared a series of his concept images for the piece.

Some of the sketches appear to show a girl pulling flowers from a sheaf behind her back, seemingly to fire into the air.

Scroll across to see them here:

The mural ― dubbed by some the “Valentine’s Banksy” ― first appeared early Feb. 13 on the side of a property in the Barton Hill neighborhood, a stone’s throw from where the artist attended a graffiti project as a teen.

Banksy confirmed he was behind the piece early the next day, Valentine’s Day.

By Saturday morning, it had been damaged:

Ben Birchall - PA Images via Getty Images
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The piece ― located in what the Bristol Post newspaper has described as “one of the most deprived areas” in the city from years of public funding cuts ― has since been covered with wood and surrounded by a fence.

It’s unclear how tongue-in-cheek Banksy was with his “kind of glad” comment. He has previously acknowledged one of his stunts didn’t go entirely to plan.

This video he shared online in October 2018 suggested the partial shredding of his “Girl With Balloon” artwork ― just moments after its sale at Sotheby’s auction house in London for $1.4 million ― had gone slightly awry:

Before You Go

Banksy Street Art

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