Man suspected of vandalizing Winston Churchill statue arrested in London

British police announced Friday that they had arrested a man suspected of having defaced a statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London during the night, covered with Propalestian inscriptions. On images broadcast by the media, the inscription “Zionist war criminal” is visible on the base of the statue, while the sculpture with the likeness of Churchill is covered with tags in red paint, in particular the slogan “Free Palestine”.

Friday morning, the tags had been erased from the statue’s pedestal and cleaning agents were busy removing those still covering the sculpture, located in Parliament Square, in front of the Westminster Parliament in the heart of the capital, noted an AFP journalist. London police said they arrived at the scene “within two minutes of the alert, shortly after 4 a.m.”. “A 38-year-old man was taken into police custody after being arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage,” adds the Metropolitan Police.

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Group classified as “terrorist” in England

A video, published on social networks by the site The Canary, shows a man mounted on the pedestal of the statue, covering it with graffiti using a spray paint. He is dressed in a jumpsuit on which is written « I support Palestine Action » (“I support Palestine Action”). This pro-Palestinian group was banned in July 2025 by the British government, which classified it as “terrorist” shortly after an intrusion and acts of vandalism by activists on a British air force base. The Labor government saw it as an attack on national security. This ban was deemed “disproportionate” by British justice on February 13.

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More than 2,700 people have been arrested – including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg in December – and hundreds more have been charged for showing support for the group, during numerous rallies held since the ban, according to the Defend Our Juries association which organizes them.

In a separate incident, another statue, that of Queen Victoria, was defaced in Northern Ireland. Belfast police have appealed for a witness, but Irish republican group Lasair Dhearg is under suspicion.

The group posted a photo on social media appearing to show one of its supporters pouring red paint on the statue of the monarch which it called the “Famine Queen”, in reference to the Great Potato Famine in Ireland in the mid-19th century.