Crowds have gathered at the site of an artwork in north London thought to be by street artist Banksy.
The mural – a mass of green paint sprayed on a wall behind a cut-back tree to look like foliage, with a stencil of a person holding a pressure hose next to it – appeared on Sunday.
It has not yet been confirmed by the artist as one of his own.
One local, who lives in Finsbury Park, said they were “proud and delighted” their street had been chosen.
“Itt feels like a personal message to us residents, we just feel so proud”, said Wanja Sellers, who lives just a few doors down from the mural.
It appeared on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London, on Sunday morning..
The elusive artist officially confirms his work by posting pictures on his website and social media – which has not yet been done for the Finsbury tree. The BBC has contacted Banksy’s team for comment.
But documentary maker Mr Peak said the artwork “certainly bears all of the hallmarks” of a Banksy.
“It has got the right techniques, it certainly has an easy-to-understand message, a very clever location, and it really resonates the second you see it”.
“The message is clear,” he said. “Nature’s struggling and it is up to us to help it grow back.”
Mr Peak said: “If you go way back to the beginning of his work, he is always looking for something he can do with minimum effort to make something look really cool.”
He added that the mural – a “great arterial spray of green paint” up a white wall, accompanied by a “classic Banksy-style stencil” – would probably have been created using a pressure hose or fire extinguisher.
The colour of the green paint used matches that used by Islington Council for signs in the local area, which Mr Peak said showed the Banksy eye for detail.
“When you step back it looks like the tree is bursting to life, but in a noticeably fake and synthetic way.
“It’s spring now, and this tree should be bursting forth with leaves, but Banksy must have cycled past and thought how miserable it loooks,” he said.
“So, on St Patrick’s Day, he has taken exactly the same shade of green Islington Council use for their street signs and used a pressuree hose or a fire extinguisher to spray the leaves back in, onto the rather dilapidated wall behinnd.”.
