Street artist donates funds raised from auction of latest work to Campaign Against Arms Trade and Reprieve

The street artist Banksy has given a financial boost to peace campaigners by donating the £205,000 raised from the sale of his latest work to Reprieve and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

Civilian Drone Strike, which depicts a trio of Predator drones bombing a children’s picture of a house, was auctioned at Art The Arms Fair, a five-day exhibition coinciding the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair in east London this week.

The exhibition was the second half of a two-week festival of protest against the DSEI, the world’s biggest arms fair, which brought together delegations from what activists say are some of the worst human rights-abusing regimes with 1,600 makers and sellers of weapons and military equipment.

More than 100 people were arrested in the first week of protests as they attempted to block exhibitors from delivering their equipment to set up stands at the arms fair, according to the Metropolitan police. The force said it would provide an update on the number of arrests later on Saturday.

Andrew Smith, of Campaign Against Arms Trade, said the money from the sale of Civilian Drone Strike would help the group to mobilise more protests against arms companies, and against the next DSEI in two years time.

“The arms fair is a moral abomination,” he said.

Banksy has a track record of supporting political causes with his art. In March he showcased his Walled Off hotel, nestled against the barrier wall in Bethlehem that separates the West Bank from Israel, to highlight the hardships caused by Israeli occupation.

In June he risked falling foul of UK election law by offering voters in constituencies around Bristol a free print if they sent in photos of their ballot papers in the general election to prove they had voted for anyone other than the Conservatives.