Cupid arrived early on Valentine's Eve at Barton Hill in Bristol, rousing a new mural splashed on the facade of a residential home on the corner of Marsh Lane and Avondale Road. The aesthetic looked endearingly familiar, so word around town is that favorite art outlaw, Banksy stopped by for a visit.

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A girl firing a slingshot, catapulting red flowers on a wall, some showering a nearby road sign, executed with stencils and plastic forms mounted on the wall, echoes Banksy's most famous image–the girl with a heart-shaped balloon.

This iteration features the girl wearing a headscarf, similar to the one donned in the #WithSyria version of the work in 2014 and the one gracing the walls of his Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem. Additionally, the image might be seen simply as the girl finally bursting the infamous balloon or shouting her Valentine's Day feelings directly–with spontaneous emotion, as children from repressed societies need to do. Either way, neither the timing nor the location is no coincidence, nor is it ever when the elusive artist intervenes.

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Appearing on the eve of Valentine's Day and a day after his Brexit-themed piece Vote to Love was auctioned for $1.6 Million, Banksy, once again, addresses issues, calibrating familiar imagery to provide subtle social commentary. Barton Hill is the area where many young Bristol kids, including the likes of 3D a.k.a. Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack and Banksy himself were introduced to the world of graffiti by way of John Nation’s Aerosol Art initiative in the late 80s.

We're yet to hear from the artist's camp about the authentication of this piece, but why wait? –Sasha Bogojev

Images via: Evening Standard / iTv / Daily Mirror