Port Talbot Banksy Season's Greetings removed from town
An original Banksy has been removed from a Welsh town and is being moved to an undisclosed location.
Season's Greetings was bought by gallery owner John Brandler after it appeared on the side of a garage in Port Talbot in 2018.
It was later taken to a building in the town centre so the public could visit.
But an agreement to keep it there has expired and Mr Brandler has now moved it out of Wales, with the University of Suffolk thought to be its destination.
The mural, which appeared on the garage of former steel worker Ian Lewis, depicts a child enjoying what he thinks is snow on one side, while the other half reveals it is actually ash from a bin fire.
Mr Lewis struggled to cope with the numbers flocking to the artwork, and film star Michael Sheen, who grew up in the area, stepped in to help pay for its security.
About 20,000 people visited it in one month alone and there were concerns about its safety before it was sold to Mr Brandler for a six-figure sum.
Mr Brandler said his offer to buy the painting from Mr Lewis was the lowest of five, but he had intended to keep it in the town in the hopes of creating an international street art museum.
The Welsh government then paid to move it to an unoccupied shop in Ty'r Orsaf.
Neath Port Talbot council said the arrangement to keep it at the shop ended on 14 January.
Mr Brandler claimed the decision to remove it from Port Talbot had been "forced upon him" by the council.
John Frankiewicz, chairman of logistics and building company, Egg Group, said the removal was a "five-hour programme" with workers taking about two hours to remove the shop window.
He explained the artwork had been pulled out of the building by a forklift and lifted on to a loader and transported from the town.
Mr Brandler, a gallery owner from Brentwood in Essex, said: "Since Season's Greetings appeared three years ago, fanatics have tried to destroy this amazing piece of art.
"We're moving it to preserve it for future generations, where it can be seen and enjoyed, but not vandalised."
A 42-year-old man was given a 14-month suspended sentence in January after admitting attempted burglary and criminal damage after breaking his way into Ty'r Orsaf.
The university has declined to comment.
Mr Brandler previously said he would like to move it 270 miles (435km) to the University of Suffolk in Ipswich.
Although Banksy is allegedly from Bristol, a series of artwork appeared around the east coast of England last summer.
The artist confirmed he was behind the series of spray painted stencils by way of posting them on his Instagram and naming the collection A Great British Spraycation.
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