Westminster: A man has been detained on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage following the overnight vandalism of the statue of Winston Churchill.
The bronze monument, located in Westminster, Central London, was sprayed with red paint bearing a number of slogans. Alongside the main message, other phrases included ‘Stop the Genocide,’ ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘Never again is Now,’ and ‘Globalise the Intifada.’
By February 27, the statue had been cordoned off as cleaning operations were carried out. In December, both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced that individuals chanting the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’ could face arrest.
Overnight, the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square was graffitied with red paint.
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.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) February 27, 2026
The decision followed the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia and the attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester in October.
History of the Churchill statue
The 12ft (3.6m) statue was created by British sculptor Ivor Roberts-Jones and unveiled in 1973 by Churchill’s widow, Lady Churchill. It is one of 12 statues situated on or around Parliament Square, most depicting prominent statesmen, including Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela.
The monument has been vandalised several times in the past, particularly during protests. In June 2020, during Black Lives Matter demonstrations triggered by the death of George Floyd in the United States, graffiti was scrawled on the statue accusing Churchill of being a racist.
Later that year, in October, an activist from Extinction Rebellion was ordered to pay more than £1,500 after painting the word ‘racist’ on the statue’s plinth during a climate protest. The vandalism of Winston Churchill’s statue has triggered widespread anger on social media, with many users describing the act as ‘awful’ and ‘disgusting.’
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