Someone Already Tried To Deface A New Banksy Stencil On The Upper West Side

Shortly after Banksy's stencil of a boy wielding a sledgehammer was discovered on the Upper West Side this morning, someone reportedly tried to deface it.

Witnesses told Gothamist that a man tried to spray-paint over the piece, #20 in the elusive street artist's month-long series in New York City. But the crowd stopped him before he could damage the work.

The stencil is located on 79th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave. and is already attracting big crowds (photo via the artist's website).

And a video of the scene after someone tried to paint over it, via Gothamist: