A statue of Winston Churchill in London’s Parliament Square was covered Friday as planned protests in the city threatened damage to the landmark.
The area features a number of statues depicting important figures, including Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Abraham Lincoln, but perhaps none is more famous than the bronze rendering of Churchill, the United Kingdom’s prime minister during World World II, which stands 12 feet tall and faces Big Ben.
The statue was defaced several days ago when an unknown tagger crossed out Churchill’s name, engraved on the base of the statue, and wrote the words “was a racist” in black spray paint.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has written a biography about his predecessor, wrote on Twitter, “The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country — and the whole of Europe — from a fascist and racist tyranny. It is absurd and shameful that this national monument should today be at risk of attack by violent protestors. Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial.”
Others pointed out that the statue has a history of being vandalized. Daily Mirror Political Editor Pippa Crerar tweeted, “It has happened before. Seems like a sensible precaution to protect the statue, which has also been defaced before — including in the May Day protests in 2000 and student protests in 2010.”
London’s city government said in a statement Friday that the statue of Nelson Mandela in Parliament Square, as well as the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London’s World War I memorial, will also be covered.
