A Banksy mural "ripped" from the wall of a Liverpool car park has been sold to a collector for more than £175,000.
The Love Plane appeared on the side of Norwich House on Rumford Street in 2011 and was instantly recognisable as being the work of world-renowned street artist Banksy. The artwork, which stood 15-feet high, featured a monochrome biplane creating a heart-shaped smoke trail.
The plane itself was removed in 2016. The piece was due to feature in the failed Berry House "street art gallery" project, but in 2017 the ECHO learned the artwork would not be returning to the city.
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The heart trail was left behind and remained for years before being removed from the wall above the NCP Rumford Street car park last September. At the time, Western Approaches, a museum based opposite the artwork, honoured the mural on the morning it was "ripped" from the wall said: "An old plane that was clearly struggling for take-off, but through it's troubles, still managed to leave behind an imperfect but beautiful heart."
The location of the Love Plane has been a mystery since it was removed from the Rumford car park wall, though the ECHO can now confirm it has been in a private collection since 2017.
According to a spokesperson for Hessink, a fine art auctioneers with locations in the Netherlands and London, the plane was sold via auction "in March last year to a collector of a lot of Banksy in Los Angeles."
The art collector paid more than 200,000 euros, equivalent to around £175,000 for the piece.
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