Banksy's latest work stripped, onlookers boo

Aug. 11 (UPI) -- For a few hours Saturday, the crafty artist known as Banksy made an open billboard of his canvas, with a painting that ­included ­a stretching black cat.

It was part of the artist's weeklong smile campaign that saw pelicans, a goat and a trio of monkeys painted on a series of ad boards across North London.

After revealing that the art was his, Banksy said he was trying to bring a smile to peoples' faces during a time when the news headlines have been bleak. He has said other surprises could be coming in the days ahead.

Workers stripped the cat mural later on Saturday after onlookers gathered to have a look and snap selfies as supporters of Banksy's art booed .

The other images included a mountain goat that appeared to be perched atop a column on the side of a building in one of the murals, rocks trickling away from its hoofs, as if they were falling down the side of a cliff.

Earlier in the week, Banksy painted two silhouetted elephant heads on the side of a house in Chelsea, their trunks stretched toward each other.

A trio of monkeys appeared to be swinging across Brick Lane on an east London bridge.

He painted various other images over several days, including a wolf on a satellite dish on a roof on Peckham, which later disappeared and was said to have been removed and taken by two men with a ladder.

"We have no knowledge as to the dish's current whereabouts," Banksy's representative was quoted as saying.

Banksy, whose identity has never been positively confirmed, works at night and is thought to have a small team of helpers. During his most recent activity, someone wearing a large, white facemask was being hoisted on a hydraulic lifting platform next to Kew Bridge shortly before 5 a.m. Monday.

He funds the rescue boat MV Louise Michel, which patrols migrant routes in the Mediterranean, seeking to help endangered asylum seekers.