A mural Banksy painted on the London Underground was removed by cleaning crews


A new Banksy piece spray-painted on the inside of a London Underground train was removed by Transport for London (TfL) cleaning crews shortly after its creation. The piece, titled If You Don't Mask, You Don't Get (2020), featured a series of rats donning medical masks alongside a graffiti-style tag of the artist’s name seemingly rendered in disinfectant, as well as the phrases “I get lockdown” and “but I get up again”—a reference to British alternative rock band Chumbawamba’s 1997 smash hit “Tubthumping”—on the train door and an adjacent wall. A video posted to the artist’s Instagram shows him donning a cleaning crew disguise in order to paint the work in plain view of other passengers.

By the time the artist posted the video, however, the work had already been removed in accordance with the London Underground’s strict anti-graffiti policy. According to BBC News, the TfL treated the work “like any other graffiti on the network,” stating that "the job of the cleaners is to make sure the network is clean, especially given the current climate." A statement from the TfL went on to offer the artist the chance to recreate the mural “in a suitable location.”