www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2370770.html

Developers demolish '£100,000 work of art' to make way for flats

A mural by Banksy, the graffiti artist, with an estimated value of £100,000 has been demolished to make way for a block of flats.

The New Pollution, in the St Paul’s area of Bristol, was one of Banksy’s first works and featured a mural painted in memory of a dead friend. It was demolished on the day that Angelina Jolie, the actress, spent £200,000 on a piece by the artist.

One brick from the work, featuring Banksy’s signature, was placed for sale on eBay, the internet auction site.

Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, said: “It’s difficult to put a valuation on such a unique piece . . . but it would without a doubt be into six figures. Banksy is now an A-list artist, like Damien Hirst or Tracey Emin.” Springdale, the company that demolished the wall, said that it had been unaware of its significance.

In June a Banksy painting appeared on a Bristol City Council building. The council said this week that it may remove the work because it was on a listed building.

Hmmmm , Sun.... Times....... similar article..... says alot about the standards of journalism since Murdoch took over our top title

6 figures for a f****** brick, you're having a giraffe
The world's gone mad

Hi, my name is Janna and Abi was a friend of mine, in fact I was with her the day she left me and hundreds of people in Bristol totally devastated. She died of complications during a severe Asthma attack on a night out. She was young, and one of the sunniest most infectiously smiley people you could ever hope to meet. Hence the fact that more people than could fit in the church turned out at her final farewell. Her death was a shock and tragedy to us all, and that wall was an ongoing memorial to someone much loved and still sorely missed. Please stop arguing about it, sell it if it doesn't mean anything to you, and you can live with knowing that it really is a memorial to a real person. Maybe you should think about offering it to Banksy, it's his heritage after all, and Abi was a very special person to him, I think he'd appreciate it? Otherwise you could think about auctioning it for an asthma charity?

Exactly

Hi everyone but especially Janna,

We think there will be a piece in Friday's Bristol Evening Post about Abi for those who are interested in her, not just Banksy. Hopefully they will be more respectful to her and her family than they were when she died. For all you Banksy spods, the mural was actually his second one to Abi in that spot! He had permission to paint them both from the building's owner at the time.

Also, I live really close to the wall too and I didn't see any notices either. They were obviously very small! I didn't know anything until I drove past one day and it wasn't there anymore. Its upset a lot of people that it has gone, those of us who always called it Abi's wall, not Banksy's.