Banksy's Piranhas: A Fishy Commentary on London's Art Theft Spree

A central London police box has been transformed into a tank of piranhas, becoming the seventh instalment in a series of artworks attributed to the elusive graffiti artist, Banksy.

The anonymous artist confirmed his authorship by posting the work on his Instagram account at 1 pm on Sunday. The piranhas, depicted in a style distinct from the previous six silhouetted designs, could be seen as a sardonic commentary on the recent fate of his works.

One of the earlier designs, featuring a wolf perched atop a satellite dish, was removed by suspected thieves. Another, a stretching cat on an empty billboard, was taken down by contractors. These incidents have led to widespread speculation about the artist's intentions and the reception of his street art in London.

Two City of London police officers were observed examining the new work before taking photographs. One officer revealed to the PA Media news agency that they had been instructed to inspect the artwork after it was detected by CCTV cameras and were awaiting instructions regarding its future.

Banksy's Instagram account has revealed a new animal artwork each day for the past seven days. The series has showcased silhouettes of a goat, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans, and a cat.

On Saturday, the artwork depicting a stretching cat on a damaged billboard in north-west London was removed just hours after its unveiling. A crowd gathered from across London to view the piece before three men, claiming to be hired by a contracting company, dismantled it, citing safety concerns. The men's arrival was met with boos from the assembled crowd.

A contractor, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the billboard was scheduled to be removed and replaced on Monday but the process was expedited to Saturday due to concerns about vandalism. A black board was initially used to cover most of the cat at the request of the police, aiming to prevent pedestrians from walking into traffic. The billboard's owner has informed the police that he will donate the artwork to an art gallery.

The cat design marked the second piece to be removed during the week. Earlier, a painting of a howling wolf on a satellite dish was taken off the roof of a shop in Peckham, south London, less than an hour after its unveiling. "It's a great shame we can't have nice things, and it's a shame it couldn't have lasted more than an hour," one witness remarked.

The first artwork in Banksy's animal-themed series, announced on Monday, is located near Kew Bridge in south-west London and depicts a goat with rocks falling down below it, just above a CCTV camera.

On Tuesday, the artist unveiled silhouettes of two elephants with their trunks stretched towards each other on the side of a building in Chelsea, west London. This was followed by three monkeys seemingly swinging underneath a bridge over Brick Lane, east London.

The fifth design, featuring pelicans pinching fish from a London chip shop sign in Walthamstow, north-east London, was revealed on Friday.

This latest addition to Banksy's London street art series raises questions about the future of his works and the increasingly volatile relationship between art, commerce, and public space. The artist's commentary on the theft and removal of his previous works adds a layer of intrigue to his latest creation, leaving observers wondering what fate awaits the piranhas in their glass prison.