Famous Banksy artwork in London mysteriously disappears overnight

A piece of art by Banksy in east London has been jet washed away overnight and no one knows why.

The piece, which was of three monkeys swinging on a bridge, appeared on a bridge in Brick Lane over the summer.

They were part of a series of artworks painted by Banksy across London, which included a painting of a gorilla letting out animals at London zoo.

Footage shows jet washers working late at night removing the painting.

The workers said they didn’t know why they were removing the artwork, they had ‘just been told to’, CityAM reports.

The exact meaning of the three monkeys on the bridge has not yet been pinned down.

But some on social media thought it might be reference to the Japanese proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’.

At least nine of Banksy’s works appeared in London over August.

The first work showed a mountain goat precariously balancing on a pillar as rocks fall below it on Kew Green in Richmond, south west London.

The second shows two elephants poking their heads out of blocked-out windows on Esther Terrace, Chelsea, west London and the third was the three monkeys swinging along a bridge on Brick Lane in east London.

A fifth appeared in Walthamstow, showing two pelicans eating fish above Bonners Fish Bar on Northcote Road.

Then a cat on a dilapidated billboard, overgrown with leaves, popped up on Edgware Road in Cricklewood, northwest London.

In a break from silhouettes, Banksy decorated the windows of a City of London Police box with a swimming school of piranhas on Ludgate Hill.

Then there was the arrival of a rhinoceros mounting a parked car on Westmoor Street in Charlton, south east London.

Then a painting of a gorilla freeing animals at London Zoo appeared, with Banksy’s confirmation following unexpectedly soon after.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.