Stolen Banksy graffiti on eBay

Usually when graffiti is removed from a street, residents are delighted to see the back of it.

But when the street painting is by maverick artist Banksy, it's a different matter.

The guerrilla artist now has an international following.

Gallery: See pictures of Banksy's controversial artwork

But when he was an unknown he stencilled the black silhouette of a rat bouncing a beach ball beneath a "No Ball Games" sign on a wall in Gloucester Gardens, Paddington.

As the artist's fame grew it became a popular local landmark.

Now, however, it has become a victim of his success.

Vandals using an angle grinder have cut out the entire section of wall and put the painting, bricks and all, up for sale on auction website eBay for £20,000.

Resident Marion Lau-Mackaay said: "For the sake of a few thousand pounds, someone has removed a much-loved part of the wall.

"My six-year-old son loved it so much he did a painting of it after he heard it had gone and sent it to Banksy with a letter saying, I hopes this makes you feel better'."

David Hopwood, another resident on the street, said: "I complained to the police but they said as it wasn't a robbery or an assault, they couldn't help. Westminster council was disinterested."

Although the rat of Gloucester Gardens was painted during the early days of Banksy's career, the Bristol-born artist was so fond of it that he included it in his bestselling art book Wall And Piece.

Following a string of complaints to eBay, the section of wall has been removed from the site.

A source close to the artist said: "This is an increasingly common problem for Banksy. When people see his work sells for tens of thousands of pounds, greed takes over."