A painting by the renowned and anonymous street artist Banksy on a fire door at the Bataclan theatre in Paris has been stolen, the concert hall tweeted on Saturday. "It's a deep sadness that moves us today," the tweet read. "Banksy's work, a symbol of remembrance and belonging to everyone -- locals, Parisians, citizens of the world -- was taken from us."
The painting showed a sad figure of a girl wearing a veil in black and white, her head slightly bowed as she gazed downward. The mural carried significance because it was painted on the door of the Bataclan, where 90 people were killed in a November 2015 terrorist attack.
L’œuvre de @originaIbanksy hommage aux victimes du 13/11 a été volée. pic.twitter.com/FMHoobzRXm
— Bataclan (@bataclan_) January 26, 2019
Reuters reported that a police source said thieves stole the door using a van on Friday night. A CNN report said that the painting was among the many by Banksy in Paris, many of which dealt with Europe's migrant crisis.
Who is Banksy?
Banksy is a famous - but anonymous - British graffiti artist. He keeps his identity a secret. He produces pieces of work which pop up in public places, such as on the walls of buildings. A lot of his art is done in a particular style which people can easily recognise. He began spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol in the early 1990s. But in the 2000s, he expanded his work beyond Bristol and was soon leaving his artistic mark all over the world, as reported by the BBC.
What happened on the fateful night of November 13, 2015, at Bataclan?
A black Volkswagen Polo pulled up outside the Bataclan concert hall at 21:40 (local time) and three heavily armed gunmen got out. Less than three hours later they were dead, having killed 90 people at the venue and critically injured many others.Â