'£24.8m' taped bananas appear in village
![Impro A banana duct-taped onto a white board is affixed to the pole of a street sign on a mini roundabout](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0ecd/live/bdf1e6c0-ea13-11ef-98b8-4512aa930084.jpg.webp)
Bananas have appeared taped to various locations in a village, in an imitation of an artwork that sold for $6.2m (£4.9m) at a New York auction.
Artist Impro, who frequently uses Sonning in Berkshire as a location for his work, claimed responsibility.
He said the sale of his "masterpiece" bananas would enable Sonning's residents to get a "new church roof".
The original work, titled 'Comedian' by Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan, was bought by Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun in November.
![Getty Images A young man poses next to a large white board, which has a banana taped to it with duct tape. Two auction handlers wearing black aprons over a white shirt flank the board. The man, Justin Sun, wears black trousers with a black t shirt and black jacket with white trainers and is smiling](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/be4b/live/dc261620-ea0e-11ef-bd1b-d536627785f2.jpg.webp)
Impro, who lives in Oxfordshire, said: "Enough of the japes and pranks! This time I have graced Sonning with bona fide, international standard fine art worth in total £24.8m at auction.
"The sale of just one of these masterpieces would be more than enough to get them their new church roof and to Sonningians [sic] I would say, 'you're welcome!'"
Previous works by Impro include a phone, postbox and door affixed to the side of Sonning Bridge.
![Impro A banana duct-taped to a square white board is affixed to a white brick wall](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5f01/live/582be1c0-ea0d-11ef-a363-2145dd9e78c5.jpg.webp)
He also installed a large, red Google Maps pin on A4155 Reading to Henley road in 2014.
His post box work drew international attention when it caught the eye of famous spoon-bender Uri Geller.
Mr Geller said at the time: "I have never seen anything like this anywhere in the world. It's a new one on me."
![Impro A banana duct-taped to a square white board is affixed to an ageing brick wall on the side of a narrow village street](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/651e/live/45003290-ea0d-11ef-8f65-055836e9974c.jpg.webp)
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