Two of the works of the famous urban artist Bansky that are located in the city of New Orleans were vandalized by unknown people.

The works in question are "Girl with a parasol" and "The gray ghost" painted by the artist in 2008 as a tribute to the devastation of Katrina. They were ruined in the last days of December with inscriptions in red and signed with the legend “King Robbo”, name of another late British graffiti artist, as detailed by the US media.

According to the medium Nola.com (The Times-Picayune) the “Umbrella Girl” it was one of the 15 stencil paintings produced by Banksy on a secret visit to New Orleans in 2008. The image represents a young woman with an umbrella, with the water falling from the same umbrella that should protect it from the water. This work is considered as a metaphor for the failure of the levee system to protect the city during Hurricane Katrina.

The work has long been protected by volunteers, one of them Carlos Fundora, a photographer fond of street art and volunteer who was working for its restoration and assured the media that the sheet that protected the painting can be replaced so that it can be exhibited again to the public.

Banksy's other work, popularly known as the “Gray ghost”, was tagged with red paint around the same time as the other.

Both paintings have the inscription “Team Robbo” (robbo team), a reference to the late British graffiti writer in 2014, who had a feud with Banksy since 2009.

“The Gray Ghost” represents a man who erases graffiti, and illustrates the conflict between street performers and authorities. The work is painted in a building whose owner, Greg Surrey -according to the media- gave the Bristol artist permission to 2008 for me to paint it. At the same time, It stands out that it is unusual as many of the street paintings from that year depicted the devastation caused three years earlier by Hurricane Katrina..

In this conflict between artists and their detractors was the figure of the graffiti eraser Fred Radtke, nicknamed the gray ghost because he used gray paint to cover up the graffiti texts.

Only three works by Banksy remain in the city that was hit by Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago.

At the moment the motivation for the act of vandalism is not known but the works are being restored and protected by volunteers.