Installation is shut down after anti-King message on the building (2025)

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A street art exhibition backed by Banksy has been shut after vandals wrote an anti-King message on the building.

The exhibition called the Long Dark Tunnel was closed on Thursday after graffiti stating 'f*** the King' appeared.

It was shut less than a week after opening by Arts Arkade, the gallery that put on the exhibition at a Crown Estate property.

Workers in hi-vis Crown Estate tabards tore down the agreed promotional poster from the building yards from Piccadilly Circus.

The Crown Estate is a £15.5 billion property portfolio held by the monarch, which generates a large proportion of the King's wealth.

On the week the show opened a graffiti artist known as 10Foot guest-edited the Big Issue, which featured Banksy interviewing one of the exhibition's artists.

After the show was shut, 10Foot said: 'It's the same old story.

'We're treated as antisocial idiots and they won't engage in dialogue with us when we do something widely recognised as positive.

'Getting bullied by the powerful really makes you feel like a fox being chased by the hunt.

'We threw everything at this show with nothing but good, generative intention. People have come from all over the country in their hundreds. We raised hundreds of thousands for homeless people.

'But when someone's written 'f*** the King' in the middle of the night we've been told we're a risk and they have pulled the plug. They could clean it off but instead they'd prefer to throw us under the bus.'

10Foot whose name is Sam Moore was jailed in 2010 for causing more than £100,000 of damage.

In 2023, MailOnlline unmasked Mr Moore as the artist, revealing that he is the middle-class son of a respected NHS doctor who enjoyed an idyllic childhood in the countryside.

The artists claim there was no warning that the show would be shut.

After the promotional poster was torn down smaller posters appeared with the artists' tags above red Latin script reading graf scriptores decollabuntur — meaning graffiti artists 'will be decapitated'.

An assessment document created by Arts Arkade included concerns expressed by the Crown Estate, Westminster council and the Heart of London Business Association.

It detailed fears that potential copycats could appear and 'protests' were flagged - it also stated that the walls had been vandalised out of hours.

Arts Arkade said on Instagram: 'Following serious incidents of vandalism and criminal damage to [our] and some of our neighbours' buildings, we have regretfully taken the decision to close the Long Dark Tunnel exhibition earlier than scheduled.

'The criminal damage we've experienced is totally unacceptable and is not a matter we take lightly.'

The Crown Estate has been contacted for comment.

BanksyNew York Times

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