Street art depicting a workman chiselling away at the European Union flag has been confirmed as the work of enigmatic graffiti artist Banksy.

The three-story mural appeared on Sunday morning (7 May) on a building beside the A20 near Dover’s ferry terminal. It depicts a monochromatic worker atop a ladder, which leans against an enormous EU flag. As he hammers away at one of the flag’s 12 stars hairline cracks begin to appear across the flag’s surface.

Pictures of the street art have been posted to Banksy’s Instagram account and over the weekend a Banksy representative confirmed it was the work of the iconic artist.

As a comment on the fractured nature of UK and EU politics in the wake of the Brexit referendum the artwork has divided critics. One Facebook user lambasted the piece as “obvious and uninnovative” while another praised Banksy for an “#amazingmetaphor”.

Love it or hate it Banksy’s oeuvre has never ceased to capture the nation’s imagination. His pop-up dystopian “bemusement park” Dismaland, which opened to the public in Somerset in August 2015 drew over 150,000 visitors to the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.

When Banky’s ‘Art Buff’’ mural was cut out of the side of a building in Folkestone and shipped to the US for sale there was public uproar. Following a lengthy court battle fought by The Creative Foundation with advice from Boodle Hatfield’s specialist art law team an injunction was secured and the artwork returned to Folkestone.