"We are today filled with a deep sense of indignation. The work of Banksy, a symbol of contemplation belonging to all — residents, Parisians and citizens of the world — has been taken from us," the Bataclan said on Twitter.
Banksy's painting of a grieving woman with her eyes lowered, whose head is covered with either a hood or a cape — appeared on the door of The Bataclan in the summer of 2018. A picture of the painting was also posted in Banksy's Instagram account.
According to French media reports, the police arrived at the concert hall early on Saturday morning after the alarm went off. They reported that The Bataclan hadn't been broken into per se; rather, the door that Banksy had painted had been sawed out and stolen. According to press reports, a witness interviewed by the police said that he had seen a small truck near the theatre.
READ MORE: Alleged Banksy Graffiti Discovered in Tokyo, Put into Protected Storage
The Bataclan's staff explained that Banksy had used the door as a canvas "for one reason: it is his choice as a city artist, his impulse to honour memory and support."
The Bataclan theatre was the site of the deadliest in a series of Islamist terrorist attacks that struck Greater Paris on 13 November 2015, prompting a national state of emergency. The suicidal, Daesh-affiliated religious terrorists opened fire on an audience of over 1,500 people attending a heavy metal concert, killing ninety of them. The massacre has been called the deadliest in France's modern history.
In total, 130 were slain in the attacks in and around Paris, more than 350 additional people were injured.
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia
