Two men have been charged with burglary over the theft of an artwork by Banksy from a London gallery, police said on Friday.

The Metropolitan Police said 47-year-old Larry Fraser and 53-year-old James Love are alleged to have taken the painting, titled Girl With Balloon, from the Grove Gallery on Sunday night.

The suspects appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Thursday and were ordered to remain in custody until their next hearing on October 9.

Police say they have recovered the work, which is valued in court documents at 270,000 British pounds ($530,000).

The painting was the only item stolen on September 8, police said, adding it would be returned to the gallery.

The stolen work is one of several versions of Girl With Balloon, a stencilled image of a child reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.

The picture was originally stencilled on a wall in east London but has since been reproduced, becoming one of Banksy's best-known images.

Another version partially self-destructed during a 2018 auction, passing through a shredder hidden in its frame just after it was purchased for $2.2 million.

The self-shredded work, retitled Love Is in the Bin, later sold for $36.5 million in 2021.

Bansky — who has never confirmed his full identity — began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England and has since become one of the world's best-known artists.

His images include two policemen kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words: "Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge."

His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals.

This summer a series of animal-themed stencils showed up around London.

One of them, a howling wolf on a satellite dish, was removed by a masked man less than an hour after it was confirmed as authentic.

An image of a gorilla at London Zoo and piranhas in a police sentry box in London's financial district were both removed by the authorities for safekeeping.

AP/AFP/Reuters