Elusive artist Banksy has confirmed that he painted swimming piranhas on a City of London Police guard hut, which was first spotted on Sunday morning.
The glass-fronted box on Ludgate Hill – near the Old Bailey and St Paul’s Cathedral – has been redesigned to look like an aquarium.
This is his seventh new artwork to be unveiled in the capital within a matter of days, following a goat, monkeys, elephants, a wolf, pelicans and a cat.
Crowds gathered throughout the day to take photos until barriers were erected preventing people from entering the building.
This work differs from Banksy’s previous works unveiled this week in that it is a detailed painting that appears to have been painted with translucent spray paint.
The City of London Police said it was aware of the “damage to property” at the police station and was in contact with the City of London Corporation, which owns the station.
Earlier, a company employee was seen cordoning off the square and asking spectators not to stand on the street nearby.
A spokesman said: “We are currently exploring options to preserve the artwork.”
The guardhouses are one of many installed in the 1990s and used by police officers to monitor traffic and prevent IRA attacks.
“Really uplifting”
A local resident who came to take photos of the fish artwork said she found it “quite beautiful in the sun.”
“I like it, it has a certain charm. It’s not intrusive, but rather subtle.
Artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan, who painted most of Banksy’s new artworks this week, said: “It’s really encouraging for the people of London at the moment.”
“His work is a great success. It’s nice to record that, because I do it with people too.”
“It’s not just about the artwork, it’s about the entire environment he creates. It becomes a kind of artwork in itself – what happens to it when people steal it or take it away.”
Mr Lloyd-Morgan added that he had planned to go on holiday on Monday but had postponed it in case the revelations about Banksy’s art continued next week.
Banksy’s week-long London art trail
Banksy’s translucent fish swimming around a 1990s police station is the seventh work in a surprising series of animal-themed art.
On Monday, a goat appeared on the side of a building near Kew Bridge, followed by a sweet image of two elephants touching their trunks on the side of a house in Chelsea.
Three monkeys hanging from a bridge in Brick Lane attracted crowds on Wednesday.
On Thursday, a howling wolf was installed on a satellite dish on a garage roof in Peckham, making it look like the wolf was howling at the moon.
On Friday, residents of Walthamstow woke up to see two pelicans fishing above a fish shop.
And on Saturday, a stencil of a stretching cat appeared on a blank billboard in Cricklewood.
In total, three of these works have since been removed or made unrecognizable.
The poster, along with the cat, was removed by building contractors a few hours after it was discovered for safety reasons.
The crowds that had gathered to watch the work booed as it was dismantled by three men.
The loving elephants were painted over with stripes on Friday and were apparently stolen by masked men within hours of their discovery earlier this week.
Every day the artist officially announced the works on his Instagram page.
Additional reporting from PA Media.
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