Banksy mural on the side of dilapidated farmhouse destroyed
A dilapidated farmhouse, with a Banksy mural on its side, has been demolished in the seaside town of Herne Bay in Kent, England.
The artwork, called Morning is Broken, features a young boy with a cat at his side opening corrugated iron curtains and staring at the world outside.
The farmhouse was built in 1529, and was approved for demolition in late 2022, before anyone realised the importance of the mural.
“We had no idea it was a Banksy. It made me feel sick realising it was a Banksy—we were gutted,” contractor George Caudwell told KentOnline.
“We started demolishing it yesterday. The landowner watched us do it and didn’t know either.”
Banksy shared news of the demolition on his Instagram with a series of pictures, posting a photo of the destruction, simply writing over the image, “Morning is broken.”
One person who has a personal connection with the farmhouse left a comment for the elusive street artist, writing, “This was my grandma's farm house before it was left to ruins, I spent so many happy hours in the house and at the farm, this was even done on the room I used to sleep in with the farm cat.”
“Thank you so much for this Mr Banksy, my grandparents would have been very proud ❤️”.
The demolition comes just weeks after another Banksy artwork in the UK town of Margate was destroyed.
The artist took up the theme of domestic violence against women in a piece titled Valentine’s Day Mascara, depicting a 1950s housewife with a missing tooth and a black eye as she packs a male body into a real-life freezer chest.
Image credits: Instagram