Defaced Banksy Tree Mural Covered in Plastic Screens and Boards

A Banksy mural in north London defaced shortly after its debut has been covered with sheets of plastic and surrounded by wooden boards.

The work is a stencil of a life-size woman holding a pressure washer next to green paint in the shape of a tree’s leaves. The mural is on the wall of a residential building next to a cherry tree whose branches were pruned using a method called pollarding, which can appear extreme.

The British street artist uploaded photos of the mural to his popular Instagram page (12.3 million followers) on March 18, confirming the work as genuine. Days later, it was defaced with white paint.

The local neighborhood authority, Islington council, told BBC News that the plastic sheets and wooden boards had been put up by the residential building’s owner, not the council.

A council spokesperson also said it was installing a type of construction barrier called hoarding with plastic panels around the site to “allow clear views” of the mural for members of the public.

“We’ve had a lot of concerns from our residents about disruption from the numbers of visitors to the artwork, which is right outside their homes,” the spokesperson told the BBC, which first reported the news. “We will monitor and review arrangements at the site, and will continue to explore future solutions with the building owner so people can enjoy the artwork.”