This archive report was first published on 27 June 2020.
On June 10, 2020, French and Italian police announced that they had found a stolen Banksy artwork in an abandoned farmhouse in Italy's Abruzzo region.
The artwork, a poignant image of a girl in mourning painted on a Paris concert hall's emergency door, was stolen from the Bataclan in January 2019.
According to judicial and police sources, the suspects were arrested across France this week after the artwork was discovered in Italy.
Two of the six arrested individuals were charged with theft, while the other four were charged with concealing theft.
As a result, all six were placed in pre-trial detention.
The Bataclan, a Paris concert hall, was the site of a devastating terrorist attack in 2015, where Islamic State gunmen massacred 90 people.
One of the French policemen who intervened in the 2015 Bataclan attack was present when the door was found, and was overcome with emotion, according to the French crime unit.
Works by Banksy, known for their distinctive style, irreverent humor, and thought-provoking themes, have been found on walls, buildings, and bridges from the West Bank to post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
At auction, they have sold for more than $1 million.
