A builder accused of stealing a Banksy print wanted to add it to his personal collection of love heart artworks, a court has heard.

James Love, 54, is accused of working with an accomplice to steal the £270,000 ‘Girl with the Balloon’ piece from a gallery in Fitzrovia, London, in September last year.

Love hid the work after another man had smashed through the door of a gallery, jurors were told.

He already owned numerous love heart-based pictures and wanted the Banksy ‘on his walls’, the court heard.

The limited-edition print, part of a £1.5million collection displayed at the Grove Gallery, was quickly recovered by Met Police Flying Squad officers.

‘Given that it was Mr Love who had multiple pieces of art based on love hearts already on his walls, it was likely stolen with a view to i

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