A Brexit-inspired mural by Banksy showing a metalworker chipping away at a star on the EU flag has appeared in Dover.

The artwork emerged overnight on the Castle Amusements building near the ferry terminal, which connects the UK with mainland Europe.

The mural, which was confirmed by Banksy’s representatives to be a genuine work by the elusive artist, is his first comment on the Brexit vote last year.

The stars of the flag “stand for the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe”, according to the EU website.

The stars ‘stand for the ideals of unity, solidarity and harmony’, the EU website says. Photograph: Hannah Ellis-Petersen/The Guardian

The mural has appeared at a difficult time, when Brexit and the increasingly frosty relationship between Theresa May’s government and the EU over negotiations on Britain’s departure have become central to the general election on 8 June.

The Dover artwork is across the Channel from Calais, where a Banksy mural appeared at the main refugee camp in 2015, showing the Apple founder, Steve Jobs, whose biological father was a Syrian immigrant.

A Banksy artwork criticising the use of teargas against refugees in Calais appeared in January 2016 on the French embassy in London, depicting a young girl from Les Misérables with tears in her eyes as CS gas billows towards her.