New statue by artist Banksy appears in London

Famous street artist Banksy has revealed a new piece of artwork he has created in central London.

His new art is a statue which shows a man in a suit walking off a plinth while carrying a flag that is covering his face.

Banksy's team told the BBC that the statue was put in place in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and confirmed that it was his work on his social media account on Thursday.

Despite being one of the most famous artists in the world, Banksy keeps his identity top-secret.

He is best known for his graffiti art, which he often paints in public places, like the walls of buildings, and for pulling stunts such as auctioning his art then immediately shredding it.

Banksy has been spraying his art onto buildings all around the world since the early 1990s - where he first got noticed for spray-painting trains and walls in his home city of Bristol.

His artwork can be rebellious and is known for delivering political messages about things like war, climate change and poverty.

There are lots of people who love what he does, paying thousands, sometimes millions of pounds for it, and considering it to be incredible art.

But, there are others who don't support what he does and consider it to be vandalism.

Street art and graffiti can be considered criminal damage, so in the beginning it's thought the artist stayed anonymous to keep out of trouble.

Over the years many people have tried to guess who the artist is, but Banksy's true identity has never been revealed.

The new statue has been placed in Waterloo Place in St James's, an area that celebrates British imperialism and military dominance in the 1800s.

Imperialism is when a country or nation claims another as it's own, often using military, political or economic power to gain control.

Some people think the meaning behind the new statue could be a commentary on "blind patriotism".

Patriotism means to have a strong feeling of pride or love for a country and it's culture.

"Blind patriotism" could be considered to be when a person's love or pride for a country, means they don't always see the full picture - for example if that country has done bad things in the past, they only see the good things.

James Peak, creator of a BBC podcast about Banksy, said the figure in the statue was a "man in power" with "his chest puffed out" and "the flag completely obscuring his vision, which is why he is about to fall off the plinth".

On Banksy's Instagram post, someone noted: "The idea is brutally simple: a suited figure blinded by its own flag. Classic Banksy. Quiet at first, then impossible to unsee."