The auctioned artwork Banksy destroys itself

The painting Girl with Balloon by the artist Banksy has destroyed herself during an auction of the work at Sotheby's in London.

Immediately after the artwork was sold by telephone to the highest bidder for 1.4 million pounds (118 million euros), part of the painting was fragmented, according to Sotheby's.

'We have just gone', said Alex Branczik, the European director of Sotheby's contemporary art at a press conference after the auction. The Financial Times reported that the painting was fragmented by means of a device that appeared to be hidden in the list.

Banksy, who is not exactly known who he is, has become famous as a street artist because of his humorous, politically tinted and somewhat provocative works. His art appears unannounced on city walls all over the world.