Banksy artwork self-destructs moment after being sold for $1.4 million

LONDON (AP/Meredith) — Art prankster Banksy has struck again.

A work by the elusive street artist apparently self-destructed in front of startled auction-goers on Friday, moments after being sold for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million).

The spray-painted canvas "Girl With Balloon" went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate and equaling a record price for the artist.

Then, as an alarm sounded, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, emerging from the bottom in strips.

A post on Banksy's official Instagram account showed the moment — and the shocked reaction of those in the room — with the words "Going, going, gone..."

Sotheby's — which had noted before the sale that the work's ornate gilded frame was "an integral element of the artwork chosen by Banksy himself" — expressed surprise at the incident.

"It appears we just got Banksy-ed," said Alex Branczik, head of contemporary European art at the auction house.

Less than 50%

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