In September 2019, a work by Banksy was stolen from the Pompidou Center in Paris and depicting a rat. According to "Le Parisien", the main suspect told investigators that it was the artist himself who asked him to do so. The hypothesis is now favored by justice, according to the daily.

It appeared on the back of the entrance panel to the underground parking lot of the Center Pompidou in Paris in June 2018. More than a year later, on September 3, 2019, the Center Pompidou announced "the theft" of this stencil whose Paternity had been claimed by Banksy, this world-renowned street art artist, on the social network Instagram. The work, representing a masked rat wielding what looks like a cutter or pencil, will be talked about again this Thursday in Le Parisien . According to the daily, the main suspect of the theft was indicted in early February and is due to be heard by a judge on Friday. But it is above all the suspect's statements during his police custody that are surprising. The thirty-something would have claimed to have been commissioned by Banksy himself, reports Le Parisien.

See this post on Instagram

. Fifty years since the uprising in Paris 1968. The birthplace of modern stencil art.

A publication shared by Banksy (@banksy) on June 26, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. PDT

A hypothesis favored by justice

The newspaper reports that this hypothesis is even favored by the courts for the moment. Also according to this media, the suspect, who is now free and under judicial supervision, explained to investigators that Banksy would have asked him to do so after the theft of another of his works at Bataclan. In January of last year, the concert hall had indeed denounced the theft of the work that the artist had carried out on one of its emergency exits in tribute to the victims of the attacks of November 2015.

The work of @originaIbanksy tribute to the victims of 13/11 has been stolen. pic.twitter.com/FMHoobzRXm

- Bataclan (@bataclan_) January 26, 2019

Banksy never complained

The works of the mysterious British artist, whose true identity is not known, are regularly stolen. And as in other cases, that of the "Rat" raises many legal questions, if only because Banksy, who presents himself as a defender of liberties, has never filed a complaint for the theft of his work and that 'he does not clearly claim ownership of it. The Center Pompidou had, however, filed a complaint for "theft and damage". The artist was contacted by Le Parisien , without success.