A FAMOUS art trail mascot paid a visit to a piece of street art believed to be the work of world-renowned artist Banksy.

CJ, the Octopus Ahoy! mascot, visited the work on the pill box by the Stone Pier next to Harwich’s Beacon Hill Fort on Wednesday to decide for itself whether the art was the real deal.

Harwich already boasts its tribute to the enigmatic artist Banksy, with the Octopus Ahoy! trail having a sculpture named ‘Take me to the Banksy’ outside The Pier, in The Quay.

Read more: Has Banksy been spotted in Harwich? Mysterious street art appears in town

Now, those at KAT Marketing, who are running the art trail, believe a direct message sent on Instagram could be the reason why Banksy may have visited the coastal town.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Take me to the Banksy, painted by Alison Burchet. Picture: Steve BradingTake me to the Banksy, painted by Alison Burchet. Picture: Steve Brading

Katie Skingle, from KAT Marketing, said: “We DM’d Banksy on Instagram three days ago to say we had seen his work along the east coast, and told him about our sculpture and the tribute painted octopus and Harwich’s part of the project.

“We obviously have no idea if this is what made him venture to the coast and paint here but we are certainly ecstatic if he has.”

So far there have more than 7,000 unique downloads of the Octopus Ahoy! app.

There have been more than 50,000 unlocked rewards and 77,677 collective octopus finds. In total, participants have taken more than 17 million steps.