An owner of a piece of Banksy artwork has been told his $81,000 print is effectively worthless now after he tried to shred it in a copycat attempt to double its value.
The owner contacted art experts with the hopes of selling their Girl With a Balloon print - the same print that was shredded in a stunt by the artist earlier this week at an art auction - after mimicking the artist.
The hopeful seller reportedly took to their artwork with a stanley knife, slicing strips into it before requesting the print be listed at $162,000.
But experts denied the owner, refusing to sell the massacred piece which is believed to be only one of 600 mint condition prints in the world.
Instead, they blasted the decision as "opportunistic vandalism" and valued the defiled piece at $2.
The owner isn't the first to come up with the idea with art expert Ian Syer claiming his company My Art Broker has had to warn people on social media about trying the same stunt after receiving multiple enquiries about shredding Banksy prints.
"We've had a number of Banksy print owners contact us today asking if they shred their artwork will it be worth more. Please, Please DON'T. The events of the last 24hrs are a very unique piece of art history."
Mr Syer said only Banksy could pull off the action as art.
"When Banksy does something crazy like shredding his own artwork, it will naturally have a dramatic affect on values.
"What this person today seems to have done is needlessly ruin a print worth around £40,000 and reduce its value to almost nothing.
"We strongly recommend nobody else takes valuable art and tries to cash in on what history will judge a simply brilliant stunt.
"There are limited numbers of Girl With Balloon prints in the world, today, we lost one and it's a crying shame."
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