Originally published at: Man arrested after making off with Banksy-enhanced "Stop" sign - Boing Boing
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I assume that you just don’t let a silhouette that iconic go to waste; but it feels a little weird to see the MQ-1 pop up at a point when it’s share of activity has got to be at its lowest ebb in years, probably decades.
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Can they charge him with stealing anything beyond the stop sign?
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I can’t for the life of me understand why, in the era of everyday mask wearing and cameras in every pocket, the dude’s just hanging his mug out for all to see.
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Especially in London, which is saturated with CC security cameras to a degree few other cities are. The impulsiveness of opportunistic thieves overcomes any objections, though.
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So his performative art of “stealing” the stop sign is more illegal than the art of defacing the stop sign?
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heh. and shouldn’t we at least suspect that the “It makes me so annoyed” ‘thief’ was Banksy?
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He is in theory protected only by his anonymity. In practice, I think he is effectively above the law at this point.
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“hi I’m Banksy and this stop sign is now worth a ludicrous amount of money” feels like something that is really asking for this sort of result, I hope Banksy is going to donate to this person’s legal defense because this is just fucking absurd. It’s not that far from just going out on the street with a bag full of hundred dollar bills (or hundred pound notes, given that this is England) and causing a riot by throwing them around.
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The MQ-1 has been retired in the US for about five years now. Yes I expect the distinctive silhouette was the draw here.
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That and who can you sell such a high profile art theft to?
Though I guess if you had the right connections, maybe there is some evil art collector buying stolen art.
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All of them probably. Those yachts’ locked secure storage rooms need filling.
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hundreds of pounds of boiling hot pennies. it’s tradition! 
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Do you know if it’s been retired retired; or are there still any floating around either under the auspices of some junior member of the intelligence community that gets the hand-me-downs; in the hands of some other operators(I think the Saudis bought some?; and Yemen is probably hot this time of year); or in the form of variants that are technically counted as different models for some sort of development or procurement reason; but are similar enough that they could have been a “Block II” or something if the accounting had shaken out differently(the MQ-1C ‘Grey Eagle’ looks sort of like that, to my completely untrained eye)?
I don’t begrudge Banksey his iconic symbol, it seems plausible that it’s just a supremely tempting silhouette of “military drone” rather than an implication that American military drones are involved; it just seemed a little jarring for something that was(quite deservedly) a symbol of the ‘War on Terror’ and subsequent network of clandestine drone bases and undeclared low-intensity forever conflicts to show up on an antiwar art piece right when the two notable conflicts are ones that the MQ-1 has had no involvement with. Drones in Ukraine are absolutely a big deal; but on mostly Bayraktar ones in predator-like niches; and smaller kamikaze and fire-control/target acquisition ones; not really any American ones of that size. Drones in Gaza seem to be getting less attention, and I’m not sure if their role has been anything like as important; but also no predators. A handful of surveillance-configuration reapers have buzzed over for a look; but everything else is either the (fairly significant and well developed) Israeli work in the area or Hamas improv equipment. It’s basically the first time since not long after 9/11 when American drone warfare isn’t really toward the top of the list(though I assume at least some of the forever-war bases remain open for business).
Or at some point since 1968.
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and also allows a circular sign with red legend.
Which is what they used to be. I have no idea why it was decided (or which bureaucrat told a Transport Minister) to change it, seeing as our circular signs would have been perfectly in compliance.
Something about lawns,too, while I’m here.
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those are some cool stop signs. i vote we all change to north korea’s version. i quite honestly love it
the hawaiian blue is also quite nice
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In a word, yes. Banksy’s modification didn’t really impair the sign’s function; you could still tell it was a stop sign.
Taking the stop sign away entirely created an unsafe (and potentially deadly) traffic situation.
Seriously; don’t steal the fucking traffic signs. They are there for a reason.
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Lovely plumage!
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