British graffiti artist Banksy unveiled his latest UK street artwork, which appears to take aim at domestic violence against women as the world celebrates Valentine's Day.
The mural, which appeared in Margate, depicts a 1950s-style housewife with a swollen eye and a missing tooth seemingly shoving her male partner into a real chest freezer.
Despite being integral to the artwork, the abandoned freezer was later removed by workers claiming to be from the local council.
Banksy, whose true identity remains unconfirmed, posted three images of the work, which he entitled "Valentine's Day Mascara", on his Instagram account.
Two of the images were close-ups showing the woman, wearing a blue pinafore and yellow washing up gloves, smiling but seemingly with a battered face.
Workers claiming to be from Thanet council, the local authority administering Margate, arrived at the site mid-morning to clear away the dilapidated household appliance.
The resident of the property where the painting was created, who asked not to be named, told the PA news agency the freezer and other items used for the artwork had been removed at midday.
It has not been confirmed as of yet whether Thanet District Council was behind removing the items.
Discussing how she felt about the removal, the tenant said: "I'm absolutely upset because it's not really nice.
"It was part of the art, they should be very happy because Margate could get bigger attention, positive attention.
"Why did they move those parts? It's just silly."
She claimed she asked the people who removed the items why they were doing so and they replied: "Someone told them on the council, they are just doing the task, it's not their idea but they must do it."
Banksy, known to hail from Bristol, has been busy producing and selling dozens of limited-edition screen prints to raise funds to support civilians affected by the war in Ukraine.
The 50 prints, which show a mouse sliding down the side of a box with "FRAGILE" printed on it, were sold in December for £5,000 each, through the charity Legacy of War Foundation.
Their online auction attracted thousands of "hostile" web attacks launched from Russian internet addresses, the charity said at the time.
The artist also confirmed last month that he was behind seven murals that appeared on destroyed buildings around Kyiv last year.
Additional reporting PA
