Banksy’s ‘Season’s Greetings’ to leave Wales after vandals attack it

The artwork appeared on the outside of a steelworker’s private garage in Taibach, Port Talbot, in 2018

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  Banksy's 'Season's Greetings' appeared on a steelworker's private garage in Port Talbot in 2018. The mural is to be removed from its home in Wales and taken to a secure location after attempts by fanatics to damage the artwork. All photos: PA

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  Art dealer John Brandler, left, with garage owner Ian Lewis, with Banksy's 'Season's Greetings' before its removal to an art gallery.

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  Workers with the crate containing 'Season's Greetings' at a retail unit at Ty'r Orsaf, Port Talbot.

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  The artwork will be moved to a temporary storage unit at an undisclosed location.

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  'We’re moving it to preserve it for future generations, where it can be seen and enjoyed but not vandalised,' John Brandler said.

A mural painted by world-renowned street artist Banksy is to be removed from its home in Wales and taken to a secure location after attempts by “fanatics” to damage the artwork, its owner has said.

Season’s Greetings, which depicts a message about the impact of pollution on communities, appeared on the outside of a steelworker’s private garage in Taibach, Port Talbot, on December 19, 2018.

It was bought by art dealer John Brandler, who agreed to keep the piece in the south Welsh town for three years, and the Welsh government later paid to have it moved to an unoccupied shop in Ty’r Orsaf so it could be viewed by the public.

On Tuesday, it will be taken to a temporary storage centre, before being lent to a cultural institution that will put it on display to the public, while its long-term future is secured.

“Since Season’s Greetings appeared three years ago, fanatics have tried to destroy this amazing piece of art," Mr Brandler said.

“We’re moving it to preserve it for future generations, where it can be seen and enjoyed but not vandalised.”

The mock Christmas scene, created using stencils and spray paint, includes a dumpster fire next to a child with a sled who is trying to catch falling snow on their tongue.

The snow is actually black dust from the town’s steelworks, something that fell heavily in the summer of 2018.

Neath Port Talbot Council has said its attempts to keep the work in the town have failed and that if it stayed, the municipality would have to pay Mr Brandler £100,000 ($135,000) a year to borrow it from him.

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  People take pictures of a new Banksy artwork in Islington, London, in March 2024. Getty Images

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  A work by Banksy is removed in Peckham, south-east London, in December 2023. Getty Images

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  Graffiti created by British artist Banksy under a protective screen on the damaged wall of a residential building in Irpin, Ukraine in April 2023. Getty Images

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  An artwork painted on the side of a property in Herne Bay, Kent in March 2023. PA

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  The artwork by street artist Banksy, titled 'Valentine's Day Mascara' on the side of a building in Margate, Kent in February 2023. PA

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  A Reveller walks by a graffiti attributed to Banksy as he arrives at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival in June 2022. Reuters

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  A Banksy artwork in Nottingham in October 2020. Reuters

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  Show me the Monet by Banksy at Sotheby's Galleries in London in October 2020. AFP

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  Banksy's Sunflowers From Petrol Station, inspired by Vincent van Gogh. PA

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  Banksy captioned the photo of this work Game Changer. Photo: Instagram

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  A customised stab-proof vest by street artist Banksy at the Design Museum in London. EPA

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  A Banksy stencil posted on Instagram in June 2020, with a caption asking 'What should we do with the empty plinth in the middle of Bristol?' Photo: Instagram

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  A Banksy piece inspired by the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. Photo: Instagram

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  Girl with a Pierced Eardrum, in Bristol. Getty

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  Banksy released a new piece in his bathroom as he worked from home during the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. Photo: Instagram

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  A Valentine's Day piece by Banksy appeared in Bristol in February 2020. Reuters

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  A Christmas mural by Banksy in Birmingham, December 2019. The piece made a statement about homelessness. Reuters

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  Banksy's pop-up shop called Gross Domestic Product in Croydon, London in 2019. AFP

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  A view of Banksy's migrant child mural, half-submerged in high water in Venice, November 2019. EPA

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  Devolved Parliament at Sotheby's auction house in London, featuring chimpanzees as MPs in the House of Commons. EPA

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  A Banksy artwork in Marble Arch, London, at the site of an Extinction Rebellion protest camp. EPA

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  Love is in the Bin at the Frieder Burda Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany. EPA

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  There is Always Hope. EPA

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  Season's Greetings (2018) was painted on a garage in Port Talbot, Wales. Getty

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  Part of the unauthorised exhibition entitled Banksy, Genius or Vandal? in Madrid, December 2018. EPA

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  A piece by Banksy, acquired by actor Robin Williams, was among auction items on display in Los Angeles, September 2018. EPA

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  A Brexit-inspired mural by Banksy in Dover, south-east England. EPA

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  A veiled woman in mourning beside the Bataclan concert venue in Paris where 90 people where killed by terrorists in November 2015. EPA

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  An artwork attributed to Banksy showing Napoleon's horse rearing, in Paris, June 2018. EPA

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  A mural depicting a rat on a popped champagne cork, in Paris, June 2018. EPA

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  A rat in the inner portion of a clock in New York City, March 2018. EPA

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  A Banksy mural highlights the imprisonment of Turkish artist and journalist Zehra Dogan, on the Bowery, New York City in February 2019. EPA

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  A Banksy painting appeared on the first day of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. EPA

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  Flying Copper on display in Berlin. EPA

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  The Bridge Farm Primary School where a new mural appeared during half term in Withchurch, England. The mural was a thanks to the school for naming a school wing after Banksy. EPA

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  The Son of a Migrant from Syria depicting Apple's Steve Jobs in the refugee camp called The Jungle in Calais, France. EPA

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  Dismaland, a temporary exhibition that opened at a derelict seafront lido in Weston-Super-Mare, England in 2015. Getty

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  Bomb Hugger after it was defaced in Hamburg, February 2015. EPA

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  Banksy appeared to comment on methods used by Britain's intelligence services with this piece in Cheltenham. EPA

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  The Twin Towers in Tribeca appeared in New York in 2013. EPA

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  A mural by Banksy in Queens, New York. EPA

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  Three years after Hurricane Katrina wrought havoc in the Gulf of Mexico, Banksy created some commemorative pieces in New Orleans, Louisiana. EPA

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  Another mural by Banksy in New Orleans. EPA

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  A Banksy in London, May 2008. EPA

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  A piece to mark Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee appeared on Clink Street, near London Bridge, in May 2002. EPA

In November 2021, council leader Ted Latham issued a statement to “set the record straight” regarding the impending departure of the Banksy mural.

Mr Latham said he was told the work would be moved to an exhibition in Peterborough.

“Discussions were held on future arrangements and the potential for the work to remain in Port Talbot," he said.

"But the council was informed that it would have to meet the costs of its removal and installation into a new venue, to continue to cover the insurance and to pay a fee in the region of £100,000 per year for the loan of the work.

“It has been estimated the cost of removal and relocation to another venue [even without insurance to cover the operation to move it] of Season’s Greetings would be around £50,000.”

Many have called it a “missed opportunity” to revitalise the town.

They include actor Michael Sheen, who grew up in Port Talbot and this month criticised the extraction of art from Wales into England.

The artwork will be removed in one piece after being encased in a specially designed protective shell made by design company the Egg Group.

The Banksy Preservation Society aims to raise funds through exclusive Banksy NFT Art drops to fund the preservation of Season’s Greetings and other works and ensure it will be on display to the public in the future.