A 38-year-old man has been arrested after the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was defaced with graffiti overnight.
The bronze monument in Westminster was sprayed with red paint bearing phrases including “Zionist war criminal”, “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine”. Other slogans read “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada”.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police were alerted shortly after 4am on Friday. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage and remains in custody.
A Dutch-based group calling itself Free the Filton 24 said it was behind the action. The group describes itself as made up of relatives and supporters of activists charged over a 2024 break-in at a UK site linked to Israeli defence firm Elbit.
A man identifying himself as Olax Outis claimed he carried out the act. In a statement posted on social media, he said the vandalism was intended to highlight what he described as human rights abuses and criticised the British government’s stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He also said the statue was chosen because Churchill represented what he called broader political corruption.
The statue was cordoned off on Friday morning as clean-up work began.
A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority condemned the damage, saying officials were “appalled” and working to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.
Jewish community organisations also criticised the incident. The Jewish Leadership Council said it was “disgusted” by the defacement, while the Board of Deputies of British Jews described the act as offensive and deeply troubling.
The 12-foot monument, created by sculptor Ivor Roberts-Jones and unveiled in 1973 by Lady Clementine Churchill, stands among several statues of prominent global figures in Parliament Square, including Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln.
Churchill’s statue has been targeted in previous protests. In December, both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police warned that chanting certain protest slogans linked to extremism could lead to arrest.
Investigations into the latest incident are ongoing.