Parliament Square Winston Churchill statue defaced with graffiti; Zionist slogan sprayed
A 38-year-old man has been arrested after graffiti including the phrase "Zionist war criminal" was sprayed on the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. The graffiti included the term zionist as part of that phrase, and other slogans were also painted on the bronze statue in Westminster.
Zionist graffiti and arrest
The Metropolitan Police said a man was seen spraying graffiti shortly after 0400hrs on Friday 27 February. Officers were on the scene within two minutes and the 38-year-old was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage; he remains in custody.
What was sprayed in red paint
Red paint was used on the bronze sculpture. The words and phrases sprayed included "Zionist war criminal", "Stop the Genocide" and "Free Palestine". Further graffiti on the monument read "Never again is Now" and "Globalise the Intifada".
Police response and timeline
The statue was cordoned off and was being cleaned on Friday morning, with heritage wardens removing the paint. A police spokesperson set out the timeline: shortly after 0400hrs on Friday 27 February a man was seen spraying the statue; the first officers arrived within two minutes and the man, who is 38, was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage.
Claims of responsibility and statements
A Dutch group calling itself Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility and posted video footage appearing to show a man defacing the statue. The group describes itself as "family and friends" of Palestine Action activists who were charged over a break-in at one of Israel-based defence firm Elbit's UK sites in 2024. An activist who identified himself as Olax Outis and said he is Dutch has claimed he came to the UK to deface the statue; he said the aim was "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. "
Official and communal reactions
A representative of 10 Downing Street called the attack "completely abhorrent", saying "Churchill was a great Briton. This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account. " A Home Office spokesperson described Sir Winston Churchill as "a figure of great national pride" and called those responsible "vile vandals" who are "a disgrace. " A Greater London Authority spokesperson said officials were "appalled by this vandalism" and that work was under way to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.
Community figures also reacted strongly. Dave Rich, director of policy for the Community Security Trust, noted the presence of a "Free Palestine" slogan and what he described as a Hamas red triangle in the image, adding that such extremism is not just a threat to Jews. The Jewish Leadership Council said it was "disgusted" by the defacing and said the act combined a hatred of Jews with a disdain for Britain in targeting a British hero who led the country against the Nazis. Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote that one of the greatest champions for liberty had been defaced, described Zionism as "the national liberation movement of the Jewish people" inverted by the graffiti, and invoked Santayana's line that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Context and statue history
The wartime prime minister's statue has been vandalised several times in the past, including during protests. In June 2020 the monument was scrawled with graffiti accusing Churchill of being a racist during a Black Lives Matter protest triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US. In October 2020 an Extinction Rebellion activist was later ordered to pay more than £1, 500 after defacing the statue by painting "racist" on its plinth during a climate protest.
The 3. 6-metre monument was created by Ivor Roberts-Jones and was unveiled in 1973 by Clementine Churchill. It is one of 12 statues on and around Parliament Square, which also features memorials to well-known statesmen such as Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela.
Enforcement posture on related slogans
Last December both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced that anyone chanting "globalise the intifada" would face arrest. That policing decision was taken in the wake of two terror attacks: one at Bondi Beach in Australia and the terror attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on 2 October.
The statue remained cordoned off while cleaning continued and the investigation by the Metropolitan Police into the racially aggravated criminal damage offence proceeded.
