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Scientists Try To Geolocate Elusive Street Artist Banksy

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LONDON, England (CBSMiami) -- Banksy may have finally been tagged.

Ever since the British graffiti artist began spreading his art across the streets of London in the 90's -- and eventually the world -- both fans and authorities have been trying to discover his identity.

Now scientists have employed a profiling method that criminal investigators have long used to try to determine the most likely area where a subject lives.

Known as geographic profiling, researchers looked for "hot spots" using the known locations of more than a hundred Banksy pieces around the London and Bristol area to pinpoint and narrow down the spray painter's possible home.

"The model takes as input the locations of these artworks, and calculates the probability of 'offender' residence across the study area," according to researchers at the Journal of Spatial Science. "These results support previous suggestions that analysis of minor terrorism-related acts (e.g., graffiti) could be used to help locate terrorist bases before more serious incidents occur."

The research seems to correlate to a guy that media reports have previously named as Banksy -- Robin Gunningham -- though the study is not considered conclusive.

"Our analysis highlights areas associated with one prominent candidate (e.g., his home), supporting his identification as Banksy," said the Journal of Spatial Science.

Banksy's street art has captivated fans the world over with satirical and political commentary that mixes dark humor and striking visuals across buildings, walls, bridges and just about anything else that paint applies to.

His artwork has sold in the millions and includes celebrity fans like Brad Pitt, Bono, Christina Aguilera and Jude Law.

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