A Banksy artwork of a masked rat holding a Stanley knife has been stolen in Paris, according to Sky News.
The stencilled image has been cut off the back of a large traffic sign near the Pompidou Centre in the centre of the city.
The gallery, which houses Europe’s largest collection of contemporary artwork, posted an image on its official Twitter page showing a rectangular hole cut into the sign where the rat once was.
“We are sad to inform you that Banksy’s work of art facing our building on rue Beaubourg was stolen during the night,” the gallery said in a post.
The gallery went on to say: “Although this piece was not part of our collection, we were proud that the artist had chosen the side of our building to create it, as an homage to the events of May ’68.”
The picture is one of a selection of rat themed works attributed to Banksy which appeared across Paris during the Summer. They were widely regarded to be a comment on the French government’s hard line on migrants.
The message refers to two months of anticapitalist riots which took place in Paris during the Summer of 1968. The rat was chosen by Banksy to pay homage to Blek le Rat who is often described as the “father of stencil graffiti”.
The masked rat is the second of the illusive graffiti artist’s works to be stolen in Paris this year, after a mural painted on an emergency door at the Bataclan concert venue was stolen in January.
While the artwork is not signed by the Bristol based artist, Banksy appeared to claim it as one of his creations in June when he posted snaps of it on his Instagram feed.
The Pompidou Centre says that the theft has been reported to the police.
