Banksy Graffiti to be Sold in U.S.

Ah, the irony: Tired of keeping vandals away from a work that graffiti artist Banksy painted on the wall of the Prince Albert Pub, owner Chris Steward has decided to sell the piece through a U.S. gallery. The work depicts two policemen locked in a passionate embrace. But while police seemed to like the piece, stopping to take pictures of it, within two weeks vandals had wiped black paint on the wall. Two weeks later, it was targeted again. Steward decided to have an art restoration company chemically transfer the painting to a canvas and replace the original with a facsimile. Now the piece is being shipped to the Keszler gallery in New York. Kissing Coppers is expected to fetch between £500,000 and £1 million ($826,000 and $1.7 million).