Thieves remove Banksy classic ... and the wall, too

Usually when graffiti is removed from a street, residents are delighted to see the back of it.

But when the street painting is by maverick artist Banksy, it's a different matter.



But when he was an unknown he stencilled the black silhouette of a rat bouncing a beach ball beneath a "No Ball Games" sign on a wall in Gloucester Gardens, Paddington.

Vandals using an angle grinder have cut out the entire section of wall and put the painting, bricks and all, up for sale on auction website eBay for £20,000.

Following a string of complaints to eBay, the section of wall has been removed from the site.