AN anonymous street artist has claimed his latest 'exhibit' featuring a washing machine left in an underpass was intended to spark a discussion on fly-tipping.

However, Oxford City Council said they were treating the street art 'installation' itself as an instance of fly-tipping.

Council workers were sent out to remove the item from the Littlemore underpass on Thursday afternoon.

The mysterious artist, known only as Athirty4, told the Oxford Mail he wanted to highlight the issue, having found the washing machine already abandoned near to the underpass. 

Oxford Mail:

Athirty4, who in another stunt earlier this month placed a series of fake street signs around the city, said: "I like to make the most out of found objects, such as the washing machine, and put a spin on them (pardon the pun), making people look at such objects differently in terms of how wasteful we are in the west with our throw-away consumer mentality."

The installation which was unveiled on social media on Monday also featured a sign challenging 'negative preconceptions' of contemporary art.

The artist tweeted a picture of the installation with the caption: 'More art for the public to consume or destroy.'

And it seems one passer-by chose to 'destroy' with a follow up tweet on Wednesday showing the washing machine having been knocked over.

In an Oxford Mail online poll yesterday, 70 per cent of people said they considered the stunt to be flytipping.

Earlier this month the anonymous Athirty4 sparked intrigue in Oxford after erecting a series of social media-related street signs across the city.

He said the signs for the likes of Facebook Row, Snapchat End and WTF Lane, were an attempt to mirror the ‘illusion’ of social media.

Oxford City Council promptly removed the signs however claiming they made the city 'harder to navigate'.

While in March, fake road signs in Didcot directing motorists to fictional destinations such as Gatham City and Middle Earth were also the work Athirty4.

PIC credit: Twitter @UCurrent