A large green artwork believed to be a Banksy has appeared in north London over the weekend.
Residents said they woke up on Sunday to the massive mural on the side of a block of flats near Finsbury Park.
Pic: PA
It’s a large green splatter-effect shape, painted behind a cut-back tree – giving the appearance of adding a halo of leaves and foliage to the bare branches.
The green paint drips down to the floor, where a girl painted in green and black is looking up at the work.
She appears to be holding a pressure sprayer.
The shade of bright green paint used in the piece matches the colour of Islington Council branding, and also seems likely to be a nod to St Patrick’s Day, which was on Sunday 17 March.
Trainee clinical psychologist Amy wrote on X: “Proud new caretakers of an apparent new #Banksy piece in Finsbury Park… Woke up this morning to it on the side of flat.”
She added: “You can just about see us smiling proudly on our balcony.”
She also found a handful of black zip ties left outside by the work, and speculated: “Potentially Banksy’s zip ties left at the painting?”
Another resident, James Roe, joked on X: “Banksy came overnight and now my rent will skyrocket.”
Islington councillor Flora Williamson shared images of the art on X, and said she was a fan of Banksy’s work.
She wrote: “By far the most exciting thing to happen on today’s canvass session on Hornsey Road was seeing that Banksy had come to Tollington over night. Lots of local interest – I’m a fan of it.”
The work is currently unconfirmed, however, the creator of the BBC Radio 4 series The Banksy Story, James Peak said he was certain the artwork was Banksy‘s.
Peak told the BBC he believed the message was an ecological one: “Nature’s struggling and it is up to us to help it grow back…
“It’s spring now, and this tree should be bursting forth with leaves, but Banksy must have cycled past and thought how miserable it looks”.
Banksy posts his artwork on his Instagram account, with his last confirmed work – a stop sign with three commercial airplanes flying across – shared just before Christmas.
Sky News has contacted Pest Control, the official body that authenticates Banksy’s work, for confirmation and comment.