A new mural by street artist Banksy has been derided in south-east London.
A new mural by street artist Banksy has been derided in south-east London.
The artwork, which depicts a rhino mounted on a Nissan Micra with a bonnet cone, was spray-painted by a man wearing a black balaclava.
Stephanie Lester, a witness who spoke to BBC News, said the man "walked away from the frenzied crowd".
It has previously appeared in Charlton and has been confirmed on Banksy's Instagram account.
The now-painted rhino was Banksy's eighth new London work in eight days.
Another witness, Devan Vadukul, told the BBC that a "random youth" wearing a balaclava "brazenly approached the installation and defaced it with a graffiti tag".
He added: "The whole incident happened in less than 30 seconds before he disappeared with another male accomplice further down the road."
The incident comes a day after Banksy painted swimming piranhas on a London police watch box, which was first spotted on Sunday morning.
The translucent fish were the seventh in a series of animal-themed artworks in the capital.
The City of London Corporation said the artwork had been moved to a "safe location".
A spokesman said: "We have moved the artwork to the Guildhall courtyard to ensure it is well protected and can be viewed safely by the public.
"The work's permanent home will be determined in due course."
On August 5, a goat appeared on the side of a building near Kew Bridge, followed by an image of two elephants touching trunks on the side of a house in Chelsea on Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday, three monkeys hanging from a bridge in Brick Lane attracted crowds.
A howling wolf was mounted on a satellite dish on the roof of a garage in Peckham on Thursday, looking as if the animal was howling at the moon.
But just hours later he was seen being stripped by men and carried down Rye Lane.
The artist is not connected to or condones the theft of the wolf design and "does not know the current whereabouts of the plate," Banksy's press office confirmed.
On Friday, Walthamstow locals woke up to find two pelicans fishing above a fish shop.
And on Saturday, a pattern of a stretching cat appeared on an empty billboard in Cricklewood.
Crowds booed as the work in Cricklewood was dismantled by three men who said they had been "hired" by a "contractor" to remove the billboard for safety reasons. |BGNES
