Winston Churchill statue vandalised in London: Man arrested for writing ‘Free Palestine’

A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of defacing the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, Westminster. Police said that he is also being investigated for alleged links to the activist group Palestine Action, marking the first such arrest since the high court ruled the government’s ban on the group unlawful.The bronze statue of the former prime minister was spray-painted with red graffiti calling Churchill a “Zionist war criminal,” alongside phrases including “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine.” In the early hours of Friday, additional slogans reading “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada” appeared.A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that officers arrived on the scene within two minutes of the incident.

Cleaners were seen removing the graffiti on Friday morning. The suspect was initially detained on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, according to BBC. A representative of 10 Downing Street described the attack as “completely abhorrent,” adding: “Churchill was a great Briton. This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”

A Home Office spokesperson echoed the sentiment, calling the vandals “a disgrace.”

“Sir Winston Churchill is a figure of great national pride. The vile vandals defacing this statue are a disgrace,” the spokesperson added. Dutch group Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility, posting a video on Instagram appearing to show a man defacing the statue. The group describes itself as associates of Palestine Action activists previously charged over a 2024 break-in at a UK site of Israeli defence firm Elbit, accoridng to BBC. The Churchill statue, created by Ivor Roberts-Jones and unveiled in 1973 by Lady Churchill, has been vandalised several times in the past, including during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and an Extinction Rebellion climate demonstration later that year. It stands among 12 statues in Parliament Square, commemorating figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela.