Teenage graffiti artist accused of stealing ‘£500,000 box of pencils’ in feud with Damien Hirst
by Caroline Grant
Mail Online
05th September 2009
It might not sound like the crime of the century. But the theft of a box of pencils has reignited a bitter feud in the art world.
The pencils in question are actually worth £500,000 and form part of a £10million Damien Hirst art installation.
They were taken as a prank by a 17-year-old graffiti artist known as Cartrain, who claims he had no idea the ‘Faber Castell dated 1990 Mongol 482 Series’ were in fact rare and worth that amount.
He is currently on bail, and, if convicted, will be responsible for one of the highest value modern art thefts in Britain. Continue reading “Damien Hirst: When a Pencil Becomes a Hammer”