LONDON (Reuters) - Thousands of prints by popular London street artist STIK that he wanted to give to his local community as a gesture of solidarity during the COVID crisis have been stolen, the Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday. STIK, known internationally for his distinctive stick figures, had arranged for 100,000 prints of a work entitled “Holding Hands” to be distributed to residents of Hackney, the east London neighbourhood where he lives and works. “After everything residents have gone through recently with COVID-19 and lockdown, STIK’s intention was for every household in Hackney to have a single copy of the poster as a gift to either keep or sell,” the police said in a statement. Most of the prints were distributed to residents, as planned, along with a free newspaper provided monthly by the local authority, but a large number of people did not receive their copy, and soon batches of the prints were on sale online.