Banksy Slave Labour (Bunting Boy). London 2012 put up for auction
Graffiti piece given guide price of £450,000 by US website after its removal from site in London
A mural by British graffiti artist Banksy has been put up for auction on a US website with a guide price of up to £450,000 (HK$5.4 million) after being removed from a building in north London.
The artwork of a barefoot boy using a sewing machine to stitch union flag bunting, apparently in a sweatshop, appeared on the exterior wall of a Poundland store in Wood Green in May.
It was widely interpreted as condemning child labour and mocking the impending queen's diamond jubilee celebrations.
Haringey councillor Alan Strickland said locals were angry at the mural's removal and urged people to e-mail the auctioneers to demand it be removed from sale. It was discovered to have been removed at the weekend and later emerged for sale with Fine Art Auctions Miami.
By Monday afternoon, the auction website said there had been three bids, although their value was not revealed. Bidding for Banksy Slave Labour (Bunting Boy). London 2012, described as "stencil and spray paint on render with additional jubilee bunting", closes on Saturday.
Poundland said the company was not the owner of the building and had not removed the artwork. The store tweeted: "We would like to confirm that we are not responsible for either selling or removing the Banksy mural. We are currently investigating."