LONDON: A 38-year-old man was arrested on Friday on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage after he allegedly sprayed pro-Palestinian graffiti on the Winston Churchill statue in central London.

The iconic monument to the wartime British prime minister in Parliament Square “was graffitied with red paint” overnight, according to police.

“Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 0400 GMT,” the force added.

The graffiti, which workers set about cleaning off early Friday, included calling the former leader a “Zionist war criminal”.

The Greater London Authority condemned the “vandalism” of the statue, adding that work was underway to remove the graffiti “as quickly as possible”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.

“Churchill was a great Briton,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

“This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”

A Dutch activist called Olax Outis claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine.

“If you see this message that peaceful protest has begun and it’s a reasonable assumption that I’m currently in a jail, somewhere in London,” the pre-recorded message said. The 3.6 metre Churchill statue has been vandalised a number of times in recent years.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2026