Banksy’s latest artwork was destroyed when the barren UK farmhouse it was affixed to was demolished this week — to the dismay of the contractors who were unaware the British artist was behind the piece, according to reports.
The mural, dubbed “Morning is Broken,” appeared on the side of the building and depicted a young boy opening corrugated metal curtains alongside a cat.
But the piece was short-lived and became history along with the dilapidated building in the seaside town of Herne Bay in Kent, according to the BBC
The anonymous artist confirmed he created the mural in a post shared with his 12 million followers Wednesday.
One of the Instagram photos shows the artwork was a casualty of demolition work on the abandoned building that had ivy growing on it and white paint peeling from it.
The bulldozing is reportedly supposed to pave the way for new homes on the land.
One of the contractors told KentOnline he and his crew “had no idea it was a Banksy” when they began their work Tuesday.
“It made me feel sick realizing it was a Banksy – we were gutted,” George Caudwell said.
The farm reportedly dates back to as far as 1529.
The dismantled artwork comes just one month after another Banksy work of art highlighting domestic violence against women was partially dismantled.
The piece featured a 1950s-era housewife with a swollen eye and missing tooth seemingly shoving a man in a chest freezer.
The work makes use of a real abandoned freezer that was left on the adjoining property before Banksy used it for the mural.
But the local district council insisted the freezer was unsafe to keep in public and wheeled it away just hours after Banksy posted an image of the mural to Instagram, taking away the full effect of the masterpiece.
Banksy has also reportedly painted several murals in Ukraine as the country fights against a Russian invasion.