Banksy’s latest piece popped up in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex sometime before Tuesday, but it didn’t take long for the locals to have it removed. Not because they object to graffiti on their property, but because the mural itself was seen as racist. From BBC:
The local council, which removed it, said it did not know it was by Banksy.
Tendring District Council said it received a complaint that the mural was “offensive” and “racist”.
The artist, who chooses to remain anonymous, posted pictures of the work on his website earlier. But by the time it had been announced, the mural had already been removed due to the complaint received on Tuesday.
I guess I can see where people could be offended by the piece, so it’s understandable that they’d have it removed. That said, if you know about Banksy’s work and the point of view, you probably wouldn’t think that this was some bit of racist graffiti. The good news is that the council is open for another piece:
“We would obviously welcome an appropriate Banksy original on any of our seafronts and would be delighted if he returned in the future.”
Well that’s just super. If anything, I hope that it is a direct reply to this incident. That’s the only proper way for him to return.