A judge at London's Kingston Crown Court sentenced Larry Fraser to 13 months in jail for stealing a Banksy print of the iconic *Balloon Girl* image from Grove Gallery in September 2024. Fraser, who pleaded guilty, used a hammer to break a glass door and stole the print in 36 seconds, hoping to pay off a drug debt. The Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad recovered the artwork within days after Fraser and accomplice James Love stashed it on the Isle of Dogs. Love was acquitted by a jury, claiming he was unaware of the theft until after the fact.
The case highlights the challenges of selling stolen high-profile art, as the print was registered with the Art Loss Register, a database of 700,000 missing items. It also underscores the enduring market value and cultural significance of Banksy's *Balloon Girl*, one of the artist's most recognizable works, which was famously pranked by Banksy himself in 2018 when a print self-destructed at Sotheby's. The swift recovery and sentencing demonstrate law enforcement's effectiveness in art crime, while the theft itself reflects the persistent risks galleries face from targeted burglaries.