How does Banksy feel about the destruction of his art? He may well be cheering | Rafael Schacter

Graffiti and street art are by their nature ephemeral. More upsetting than works' destruction is the criminalisation of some artists

This month, stencilled artworks by the street artist Banksy have been defaced, as with his Nissan-trampling rhino, or removed, as with his satellite-dish wolf and hoarding-bound big cat - sometimes just hours after their first public appearances.

While the wolf was either stolen to order or opportunistically taken (and, much like the bronze Barbara Hepworth that was stolen and probably sold for scrap, is now worth many times less than its market value as a result of being formally unsellable), the thievery is not hugely dissimilar to the public removal of Banksy works by the official owners of the sites his pieces appear on. Often cut out of their walls to be sold at auction, you could argue they have been stolen from the public, to whom and where they rightfully belong.

Rafael Schacter is an anthropologist and curator working on public and global art. His fourth book, Monumental Graffiti, will be published in October