On the eve of Valentine’s Day, an enticing piece of street art depicting a girl firing a bunch of flowers into the air using a catapult appeared on the side of a house in Banksy’s home city, Bristol.

John Brandler, the Banksy expert said he believed the piece may be by the elusive artist – even though the artist had not initially claimed ownership, which he usually does through his Instagram page and website. A few hours after the street art was first seen, Banksy posted pictures of it on his Instagram page – verifying that it is indeed his work.

Crowds of admirers gathered around, taking pictures with the mural even before Banksy claimed ownership. Some even prompted the owner of the building to protect the art, as it may turn out to be a valuable work.

Kelly Woodruff, who co-owns the property on the corner of Marsh Lane and Avonvale Road in the Barton Hill area, said: “It arrived on our wall overnight. I got tagged into Facebook with someone saying, is this your property?

“And we were like, ‘woah it is’. We are super excited, obviously, and it’s my dad’s birthday today so we are very excited to have such a brilliant birthday gift. We are Bristol born and bred, and it’s just so exciting.”