The tragic stencil painted by Banksy on the emergency door of the Bataclan concert venue, where more than 500 people were gunned down in the 2015 coordinated terrorist attack in Paris, was stolen in the middle of the night.
French police have opened an investigation into the heinous robbery in an effort to track down the stolen artwork which could be sold for millions. The famous British street artist painted a sad-faced girl just seven months ago, in remembrance of the victims who died in the attack.
Police said “hooded villains” stole the artwork at about 4:25am. Police found a screwdriver near the scene of the crime, and a witness reported seeing a white truck and three suspicious individuals nearby.
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The Bataclan was the most fatal scene of the coordinated attack that targeted the Stade de France and several cafes and restaurants around Paris. The terrorists killed 130 people in total, 90 of them in a mass shooting at the Bataclan theatre. Another 413 concert-goers were injured in the attack, 100 of them seriously.
“This silhouette was made by the artist for free, it was an altruistic gesture to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack and their loved ones, and I find it very sad that people have grabbed it without thinking about it all represents,” the mayor of Paris’ 11th district, François Vauglin, told French TV station LCI.
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