Paint attack arrest after Churchill hit

A 38-year-old man has been arrested after the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Westminster was defaced with graffiti branding the former prime minister a “Zionist war criminal”.

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The statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was targeted during the early hours of yesterday

(LUCY NORTH / PA)

The Metropolitan Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage.

Other phrases including “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine” were sprayed in red paint on the bronze sculpture in Parliament Square, central London.

Further graffiti read “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada”.

A Met spokesperson said: “Shortly after 4am on Friday, February 27, a man was seen spraying graffiti on the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. 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.”