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The artwork, created in Banksy's trademark
stencilled graffiti style, appeared in Birmingham central
England over the weekend.
A video posted on Banksy's Instagram shows a bearded man named
Ryan reclining on the bench, echoing the traditional image of
Santa on his sleigh.
"God bless Birmingham," Banksy wrote. "In the 20 minutes we
filmed Ryan on this bench, passers-by gave him a hot drink, two
chocolate bars and a lighter - without him ever asking for
anything."
The video attracted nearly 3 million views on Instagram in the
first 24 hours, and created a buzz in Birmingham.
The two reindeer gained red noses in the hours after the mural
was unveiled. A protective fence was in place on Tuesday,
stopping any other additions to the design.
Mercia Buddle, one of the crowds of people visiting the mural on
Tuesday, said it was good for the city.
"Visitors are coming and they have probably come from all over
the Midlands," she said. "And of course it is great to highlight
homelessness when the guy was actually on the bench, so it is
serving a lot of purposes really - I think it is great."
Works by Banksy, who has never revealed his identity, have
rocketed in value.
A large Banksy painting of chimps sitting in Britain's
parliament sold for more than $12 million in October, a record
price at auction for his work.
Later in the same month, however, Banksy opened his own "online
store", selling works for as little as 10 pounds to buyers who
were randomly selected and who could answer the question: "Why
does art matter?".
(Writing by Paul Sandle; editing by Stephen Addison)
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