Suspected Banksy Pokes Fun at Government Surveillance

A mural picturing trench coat-clad detectives holding listening devices near a BT telephone box is thought to be by the elusive street artist Banksy. It was painted overnight between Saturday and Sunday in Cheltenham, England.

Cheltenham is home to GCHQ, the UK’s surveillance network recently embroiled in the NSA scandal over information gathering unveiled by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The piece was painted on the side of a house on the corner of Fairview Road and Hewlett Road. Karen Smith, who lives in the property, is delighted. “It’s pretty good,” she told the Gloucestershire Echo, “it livens the street up a bit.”