offensive, but said he supported the inclusion of the pieces in the sale because it would preserve them. The second Banksy due to be auctioned, a 2007 artwork entitled Wet Dog that was removed from a Bethlehem wall and is estimated to be worth up to $800,000, disappeared from the auction house’s online catalogue at lunchtime on Saturday, but Slave Labour was still listed for sale right up to the 3pm start time. Thut said the two pieces, supplied to him by separate owners, neither of them British, were important works in the street art scene and deserved buyers “whose first interest is in art and its preservation ”. He said he would maintain the privacy of the collector who put it up for sale. “We respect our clients and their confidentiality. It’s not our decision to have [the Banksy] returned. We only sell it. We do not have control of it.” A spokesperson for Poundland said it had no idea who removed the 4ft x 5ft slab from the side of the shop it rents in Turnpike Lane. Lawyers for the owner of the building, a company called Wood Green Investments Ltd, have refused to confirm if it had anything to do with the episode. Banksy himself has not commented on the Slave Labour furore, but has previously condemned those who have tried to sell his artwork, speaking out before the proposed sale of five of his pieces at a 2011 auction in New York. None found a buyer.