A Banksy artwork unveiled as part of his recent London animal collection has been restored and protected with an “anti-graffiti solution” after being vandalised.
The piece, which is painted on the side of a house in Chelsea, south-west London, depicts two elephants poking their heads out of blocked-out windows.
After being revealed last month, the artwork was later defaced, with white stripes painted over the outstretched trunk of one of the elephants.
Kensington and Chelsea Council has since removed the unwanted lines and added a coat of anti-graffiti solution which protects the surface without changing its appearance.
The elephants, which appeared on the property in Edith Terrace in August, are the second Banksy piece in the Kensington and Chelsea area, with a previous mural located on Portobello Road in Notting Hill.
Josh Rendall, who is a councillor for the Stanley ward where the piece is located, said: “We were delighted to discover Banksy had come back to Kensington and Chelsea to add another unique piece to our borough’s rich cultural landscape.
“It was disappointing when it was painted over, and we have been quick to return the elephants to their former glory by removing the unwanted paint, applying an anti-graffiti solution and cleaning up the surrounding area.
“We hope that residents and visitors enjoy this and our other Banksy piece on Portobello Road for many years to come.”
The Bristol-based street artist began the animal-themed series in the capital on August 5 by unveiling a painting of a goat with rocks falling down below and a CCTV camera pointed at it on a building near Kew Bridge in south-west London.
This was followed by the two elephant silhouettes and next, three monkeys that looked as though they were swinging on a bridge in east London.
Banksy’s fourth piece in the collection, a howling wolf on a satellite dish situated on a roof in Peckham, was taken down less than an hour after the street artist unveiled it online.
A witness to its removal told the PA news agency that it was taken by three men and said it was a “great shame”.
After this, Banksy unveiled an artwork of pelicans pinching fish from the sign on Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, which was praised by local Labour MP Stella Creasy.
The collection continued with a silhouette of a stretching cat on an empty, distressed advertising hoarding, but the piece was later dismantled by three men who said they were “hired” from a “contracting company” to take down the billboard for safety reasons.
An officer at the scene told PA that the owner of the billboard had told police he will donate it to an art gallery.
A day later, Banksy confirmed an artwork of a school of fish swimming on a City of London police sentry box was his.
The governing body of the City of London said it was working on options to “preserve” the artwork and later moved it temporarily to the City of London Corporation’s offices to keep it safe.
This was followed by a work of a rhino seemingly mounting a silver Nissan Micra with a traffic cone on its bonnet, but it was later defaced with a tag.
The last piece in the collection was revealed on a shutter at London Zoo’s entrance and shows a gorilla appearing to lift it up allowing a number of birds to escape, while the eyes of other animals can be seen in the darkness.
A few days later the piece was removed for “safekeeping” and to allow the popular attraction to use its full entrance during its “busy summer period”.
