UK police arrest man after Churchill statue sprayed with graffiti

"Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT)," the force said.

The incident came as police in Northern Ireland's capital, Belfast. appealed for witnesses after a statue of Queen Victoria was vandalised, apparently by Irish Republican group Lasair Dhearg.

The group posted a picture on social media appearing to show one of its supporters pouring red paint over the statue of the monarch whom it called the "Famine Queen", a reference to the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.

In London, the graffiti, which workers cleaned early Friday, called the wartime leader a "zionist war criminal". 

The words "free Palestine" and "stop the genocide" were also sprayed on the statue.

The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act, police added.

The Greater London Authority condemned the "vandalism" and said work was underway to remove the graffiti "as quickly as possible". 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office called the damage "completely abhorrent" and said it was "glad" police had made an arrest.

"Churchill was a great Briton," a spokesman said. "This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account."

- Activist claims stunt -

A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine. 

Outis said he was a member of Dutch group "Free the Filton 24 NL", a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in 2024.

The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with "I support Palestine Action" written on the back, painting the statue.  

Other slogans painted onto the statue included "globalise the intifada". 

In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.

That followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia's Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.

The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.

The 3.6 metre (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalised a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.

mp/har/sbk