The Park City Police Department received input last week from someone wanting to ensure the artworks along Main Street created by Banksy years ago are protected.

The person contacted the agency around 8 a.m. on March 20, indicating they heard of the famed graffiti artist “working internationally” and mentioning the works in Park City, according to public police logs. The person apparently said emergency “steps need to (be) taken.”

The Police Department said the person saw media coverage “that talked about the Banksy art in Park City and wanted to make sure the city is preserving the art.” The police told the person, “the city is aware of the art and no further action was taken.” The Police Department was unsure where the person is from.

Banksy arrived in Park City just before the start of the 2010 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. He was featured in a festival entry and created a series of works in the community.

Banksy by then already had stature as an internationally prominent artist, and there was a movement soon after to protect some of the works in Park City.

The two best known — a kneeling videographer on the Java Cow building and an angel boy on a garage steps from Main Street — were put behind protective glass and frames. A vandal later attacked the two pieces, shattering the glass protecting the angel boy image and then spray-painting over the Banksy piece. The glass protecting the videographer’s image did not shatter and the vandal was not able to gain access to the artwork itself. A man from California eventually was linked to the vandalism cases.

The Banksy works along Main Street have been an attraction since they were created. People are regularly seen taking photographs of the pieces, particularly the videographer.

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The Sundance Film Festival cast includes many law enforcement officers from the Park City Police Department and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, as well as reinforcements from elsewhere.

The festival involves a spectrum of cases for law enforcement, with the opening days usually the busiest. There are traffic issues, parking problems, noise complaints, crowding on Main Street and parties across the community. There are also people marketing films in unique ways and demonstrators pressing a variety of issues.

The Park City police blotter has, over the decades, provided a minute-by-minute log of the cases reported to the agency. The blotter during Sundance is normally the most unusual, perhaps even bizarre, of the year.

The parking issues are expected. But a camel on Main Street? Noise complaints seem unavoidable. The disappearance of swag bags, though? And the Police Department was likely among the first to realize Banksy, the famed graffiti artist, may have arrived in Park City for Sundance.

Some reports to the Police Department during Sundance over the years include:

• The disappearance of $3,000 worth of unspecified property from a VIP suite on Main Street in 2017.

• The mistaken distribution of 63 pairs of shoes to hotel workers instead of the celebrities they were meant for in 2014. The shoes were part of a gifting suite at the hotel.

• The problem caused by a person described as a jilted autograph seeker on Main Street in 2013. Someone wanted an autograph from an unidentified person but did not receive one, prompting them to draw on two coats at a nightclub.

• The arrival of a man riding a camel on Park Avenue and Main Street in 2013. The person was distributing fliers promoting a film that, according to the police, had not been accepted into Sundance. The Police Department at the time indicated it issued a ticket for obstructing traffic. Officers escorted the man and the camel to a livestock trailer.

• The suspected lewdness of dancers on Main Street in 2013. The police found club dancers who could be seen from Main Street. The police said the dancing was stopped and officers told management not to allow the dancing in public view.

• The arrival of what was described as an “electronic saucer” on Main Street in 2012. The police indicated the contraption may have been a disc jockey booth and there was concern someone might start “jamming.”

• The refusal to let people in a public restroom on Main Street in 2012 by a person who appeared to be a bodyguard.

• The disappearance of swag bags from a hotel ballroom in 2011. The Police Department said 10 bags containing goods valued at approximately $1,400 were taken. Some of the items inside the swag bags included sunglasses, moisturizer and skin treatments.

• The dispute between a taxi driver and passengers, prompted by a message for the driver to pick up an unidentified celebrity, in 2010. The authorities were told the driver ordered people out of the vehicle on Main Street. The taxi company disputed the claim.

The arrival of Banksy, meanwhile, during the festival in 2010, caused a stir as he created a series of works to mark the screening of a Sundance documentary in which he was featured. The police received at least three reports of the artist’s work just before the festival opened. 

“At this point we don’t know who is responsible. We will not attribute it to Banksy unless we have evidence specific to him being the one responsible,” Rick Ryan, then a Police Department captain, said at the time.

The pieces were later confirmed to be Banksy works. Some remain on display.

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Many Park City visitors over the past 14 years have left with a free souvenir: a picture of themselves with the famous Banksy artwork on the side of the Java Cow building along Main Street.

The popular coffee and ice cream shop, recognizing the continuing interest in the work, recently began selling Banksy souvenirs. Java Cow created several goods emblazoned with the image of the piece, satisfying the desire of the fans as well as creating a revenue stream years after the business began spending money to preserve the work.

Java Cow put the Banksy image of a kneeling videographer on T-shirts, sweatshirts and a postcard. The T-shirts and sweatshirts are faded yellow in color, nearly matching the tone of the exterior of the building.

“It’s something people have asked for. ‘Do you have anything?'” Java Cow owner Ken Davis said this week about customer inquiries over the years about souvenirs featuring the Banksy image.

He said people have been purchasing the goods with the Banksy images, but they are “not the fastest-selling items.” The shop also sells numerous items with its own logos.

The Banksy at Java Cow and a series of others created by the internationally renowned graffiti artist appeared in early 2010, in the days before the Sundance Film Festival that year. The festival included a documentary centered on Banksy, called “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”

The arrival of Banksy created a stir just before the festival and then through the run of Sundance as the crowds buzzed when each work was discovered. The piece at Java Cow, with its high-traffic location, quickly became the most famous.

The Banksy at Java Cow, though, also became a target of vandals soon after it was created. Davis removed the tagging by the vandals the best he could before he eventually put the work behind a large frame, created by a blacksmith, and 1/2-inch thick non-glare glass in 2011. Davis at the time anticipated the piece would have been destroyed eventually if it had not been protected.

Davis this week said sales of the souvenirs with the image of the Banksy work could help Java Cow recoup some of the money he’s spent protecting the piece. The frame, the protective glass and maintenance have cost upward of $15,000, he estimated.

The 2024 edition of Sundance ends on Sunday. People have regularly been seen taking photographs of the Banksy at Java Cow during the festival. 

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