London: Artist Banksy is not one to play by the rules and the auction of his artwork Girl With Balloon was no different. Balloon Girl is a 2002 mural by the graffiti artist depicting a young girl letting go of a red heart-shaped balloon. 

It all went down when the framed artwork, one of his best-known pieces, was auctioned by Sotheby's in London. However, moments after the artwork was sold for £1.042million, the canvas self-destructed. 

Yes, the piece passed through a shredder that was hidden inside the frame. Banksy even took to Instagram to share the moment, captioning it, "Going, going, gone..."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Going, going, gone...

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Oct 5, 2018 at 6:45pm PDT

Meanwhile, the auctioneers were left scratching their heads. Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe, Alex Branczik put it aptly, "It appears we just got Banksy-ed."

The enigmatic artist's identity has remained a secret despite much speculation over the years.