Brian Greif of San Francisco wins the street art helper award today for his efforts in saving a Banksy piece from 2010 that was painted on a house on Haight Street. When the city gave the order that the mural had to be removed, the home owner was going to paint over it. Greif had it professionally removed, board by board, and is now looking to have it restored, but he needs a little help.

Greif says in the project video below that he has turned down several cash offers for the piece (including $500K) because he believes that "public art should remain public and street art should be left alone for the public to enjoy." He launched the "Save the Banksy" Kickstarter to raise money to "cover all costs for restoration, crating, shipping, storing and insuring the painting until a public institution can be found for the painting." The project has some cool incentives to donate, including "Save the Banksy" vinyl stickers and t-shirts that feature the stenciled rat and one of Banksy's Ten Pound Note pieces.

Watch the video below and head to the Kickstarter page to help Greif reach his $15,000 goal in the next 8 days.

RELATED: A First Look at the Largest Banksy Exhibition in London Since 2009, "The Unauthorized Retrospective"

[via Artnet]