Lowestoft Banksy artwork plundered by opportunists who are trying to flog parts of it to art dealers for thousands of pounds

A Banksy artwork is being plundered by opportunists who are trying to flog parts of it to art dealers for thousands of pounds.

The piece, featuring a large seagull mural eating polystyrene 'chips' from a yellow skip, is guarded by a metal barrier in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

But thieves are stealing the long polystyrene blocks in an effort to profit from them.

One anonymous man has claimed that a Banksy collector in Germany has offered £1,800 for one of the 'chips' that he "somehow acquired".

Art dealer John Brandler, who was offered two of the object, accused the man of "destroying" Banksy's work.

John said: "It's stolen goods and they're probably worth a tenner each.

"But there's a lot of people who wouldn't look at it as stolen goods. There's the argument that Banksy has put it in a public place."

The seagull mural was one of 10 pieces of art installed by Banksy last August along the East Anglia coast as part of his 'Great British Spraycation' project.

The art has been widely credited with boosting tourism in the area.

John added: "I assume this man is local. He's attacking his own town. The skip and chips were put there by Banksy, without them the work is meaningless."

Local taxi driver Crispin Hook said that he has found three polystyrene chips spread along the road by the mural.

Crispin said: "On the day this was discovered I found some of those chips across the road and I put them back.

"It was weeks until the council put the fence around it so who knows how many got taken to be cashed in on?"

Other Banksy pieces have been auctioned since they appeared in Suffolk and Norfolk last summer.

This month, a mural in Lowestoft sold privately for a rumoured £2million and a model thatched stable in nearby Great Yarmouth fetched £1million at auction.