A man was arrested after a statue of late United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill was defaced with red graffiti in London, the Metropolitan Police noted in a post on X.
Photos show the statue and its base defaced with messages such as ‘NEVER AGAIN IS NOW,’ ‘ZIONIST WAR CRIMINAL’ AND ‘GLOBALISE THE INTIFADA!’
‘Overnight, the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square was graffitied with red paint,’ the police noted in the post on Friday.
‘Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am. A 38-yr-old man is in custody having been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage,’ the police added.
A Dutch activist group claimed credit for the graffiti.
‘On the morning of 27th February, the statue of Winston Churchill at Parliament Square was defaced with red paint. This protest was organised and executed by @freethefilton24nl,’ a post on Instagram claims.
The post features a pre-recorded statement in which a man says, ‘My name is Olax Outis. I am a citizen of the Netherlands.’
He identifies himself as ‘part of a Dutch action group called Free the Filton 24 NL,’ explaining, ‘I’ve come to the United Kingdom to deface statue of one of history’s most well-known war criminals, Winston Churchill.’