The statue of Winston Churchill in London’s Parliament Square has been defaced with pro-Palestine graffiti.
The words “free Palestine”, “Zionist war criminal” and “Globalise the Intifada” were written across the statue of the former prime minister in Westminster overnight.
The Metropolitan Police said a 38-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage at around 4am on Friday morning (local time).
Footage of the vandalism shared on social media showed a bearded man dressed in red overalls spray-painting the statue.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “It’s obviously a disgrace. It’s completely abhorrent.
“Churchill was a great Briton. This Government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account. We’re glad the police have made an arrest.”
Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, claimed that the incident was evidence of “sectarianism” spreading across the country.
Linking the attack to the Green Party’s Gorton and Denton by-election victory, he said: “There’s a resurgent hard-Left working now with sectarian politics, and emboldened off the back of it, the Churchill statue in London has been vandalised overnight, calling him a Zionist and saying ‘Globalise the Intifada’.
“We are in very, very big trouble, and the only party that will fight this, that will turn this around, that will clean up the voting system, is Reform.”
Al Carns, the armed forces minister, called the vandalism “a prime example of utter stupidity and a lack of understanding as to what this great nation is all about”.
“The very reason that you have the right to protest is because this great man stood up against tyranny and Nazism. His leadership provided you the freedom and the security to object and to stand up for what you believe in,” he added.
Andrew Rosindell, a Reform MP who defected from the Tories, told The Telegraph: “Our historic national monuments cannot be allowed to be blank canvasses for Islamic fundamentalists and radical socialists to sprawl their inflammatory rhetoric.
“Britain will not be intimidated by mob hatred or extremist slogans. Those who attempt to divide our country or deface its heroes must be held accountable.”
James Cartlidge, a Conservative MP and the shadow defence secretary, called the vandalism “absolutely disgraceful”.
He wrote on X: “Churchill is the greatest champion of freedom in our history. A truly great man who stood up to, and defeated, the most evil war criminal of them all.”
On Friday morning, Dutch group Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility for the action, posting a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in red coveralls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.
Free the Filton 24 defines itself as a group of “family and friends” of the 24 Palestine Action activists who were charged over a break-in at one of Israel-based defence firm Elbit’s UK sites in 2024.
Olax Outis, who said he is Dutch and part of the action group, has claimed to be the man on the statue.
In a statement on the Instagram account, Mr Outis said he defaced the statue “to draw attention to the horrible human rights violations happening in a country that’s run by colonisers who refuse to listen to their people”.
He added: “The current British Government should be dragged before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and as a representative of The Hague, I’m here to hold them accountable.”
Explaining why he chose the Churchill statue, Mr Outis said: “To be blunt: if someone would ever be completely out of their mind enough to erect a statue of Keir Starmer or Yvette Cooper, I would happily demolish such an effigy.
“Churchill is but a symbol of the same political corruption.”
Churchill’s statue, which was cordoned off on Friday morning, has been targeted several times by Left-wing demonstrators in recent years.
During Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, protesters sprayed the 12ft statue with graffiti, crossing out Churchill’s name and writing “was a racist” on the plinth.
Later that year, in October, an Extinction Rebellion activist was ordered to pay more than £1,500 after defacing the statue by painting “racist” on its plinth during a climate protest.
Trans rights activists also climbed on to the memorial while waving placards and flags in protest against the Supreme Court’s ruling on the legal definition of a woman.
Last year, the Government announced new laws that made it a criminal offence for protesters to climb on the statue.
Churchill’s legacy has been the subject of an assault from the Left over recent years, with some academics and activists claiming he was a racist imperialist.
It was reported that drawings, prints and photographs of Churchill had been removed from Parliament in February last year, following the arrival of new MPs in Westminster.
‘We are appalled by this vandalism’
Last December, the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced anyone chanting the slogan “globalise the intifada” would face arrest.
The decision by the two police forces followed the Bondi Beach terror attack and the terror attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on October 2.
“The first officers were on the scene within two minutes. The man, who is 38, was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage. He remains in custody.”
A Greater London Authority spokesman said: “We are appalled by this vandalism to the statue of Sir Winston Churchill and work is under way to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.”