The woman in the gas mask who has adorned a devastated wall in the Ukrainian town of Hostomel, near kyiv, for several weeks has almost disappeared.
A group of people tried to seize this mural by urban artist Banksy on Friday by cutting it from his wall, the governor of the Kyiv region said.
The first part of the operation had gone well.
Several individuals were able to tear from the site a section of wall flocked with the stencil of the woman, in a dressing gown, gas mask and fire extinguisher.
However, the group was spotted at the scene and arrested, Ukrainian authorities said in a statement.
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The removed fresco could be recovered.
She would still be in good condition, and would have been sent under guard to an undisclosed location.
"These images are, after all, symbols of our struggle against the enemy...
We will do everything to preserve these works of street art as a symbol of our victory,”
Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said.
The section of wall where Banksy's fresco was.
The work that was almost stolen on Friday is now in a space kept secret by the Ukrainian authorities.
NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE / REUTERS
Banksy, whose works can sell for millions of dollars on the art market, confirmed he painted this mural and six others last month in places hard hit by heavy fighting after the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia at the end of February.
One of the other frescoes shows a young gymnast balancing on a pile of rubble.
Another shows an old man taking a bath.
The war in Ukraine is now in its tenth month.
Moscow's forces were pushed back from around kyiv in the first phase of the war, but fighting continues to rage in the east and south.