In Ukraine, a painting by the street artist Banksy was cut out of a wall by a group of local people shortly after it was completed. 

In the Kiev suburb of Hostomel, police officers arrested a group of eight people aged between 27 and 60, the police chief of the Kiev region, Andriy Njebytov, announced on Friday. 

The organizer was a Kiev resident born in 1990, police said.

The motive was not initially known. 

The mural of a woman in a dressing gown with curlers and a gas mask was seized intact at the scene. The Ministry of Culture was called in to decide on the fate of the artwork. 

The police had been called by local residents who observed the incident.

Several artworks by the mysterious British street artist Banksy were found in the suburbs of Kiev in November. ©dpa