Hours after Banksy shared an image of his most recent artwork — a piece decorating the London Underground that pleaded with people to wear face masks — it has been taken down, CNN reports.
Transport for London (TFL) apparently removed the artwork because it violated a "strict anti-graffiti policy." The organization added that it supports the sentiment behind the piece and would like to offer Banksy a "suitable location" to reshare such a message with its customers.
The mysterious artist first shared the post on Tuesday. "If you don’t mask - you don’t get," Banksy captioned the Instagram post. The video, titled “London Underground – undergoes deep clean,” then goes to show the artist hopping on board the Tube to tag the car with rats depicted using masks as parachutes and dispensing hand sanitizer. We see one rat in particular sneezing, while another struggles to put its mask on.
As the clip closes, the words “I get lockdown, but I get up again” appear, referencing Chumbawamba's 1997 hit track, "Tubthumping."
Banksy's new coronavirus-themed piece appears as much of the world is still struggling with the pandemic, and many areas have enforced wearing a face mask in public.
