Pro-Palestine activists vandalise Winston Churchill's statue with 'zionist war criminal' slogans https://t.co/DjEG5bKjxo
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) February 27, 2026
The large bronze statue of British hero and wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square has again been defaced, this time by ‘pro-Palestine’ attackers.
Palestine Action Supporters Vandalise the Churchill statue in London 🏴 last night….this is not on! 😡 pic.twitter.com/bdbzIDY6iD
— ANDY PUBLIC U.K (@Andypublicuk) February 27, 2026
Winston Churchill’s statue outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament, the national legislature his personality dominated for 40 years as a member, government minister, and two-time Prime Minister has been vandalised overnight. The statue and plinth was painted with messages in red, including “Zionist war criminal”, “free Palestine”, “stop the genocide”, “globalise the Intifada”, and “never again is now”.
A fourth side was tagged in Dutch, with messages including “Groeten uit Den Haag” [‘Greetings from the Hague’], and “Káp Nâh” [‘cut it out’ rendered phonetically for the distinctive “lower-class Hague accent”].
Metropolitan Police say they have made an arrest. Their statement related:
Overnight, the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square was graffitied with red paint.
Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am.
A 38-yr-old man is in custody having been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage.
The BBC now reports Dutch pro-Palestine activist group ‘Free the Filton 24’ has claimed responsibility for the vandalism. The group’s name refers to a group of prisoners taken by the British government after a Palestine direct action group raided a defence factory belonging to Elbit Systems UK in Filton, Bristol.
There is no indication yet of whether the arrested male is British or a Dutch migrant.
After the vandalism was discovered, Westminster Council employees wrapped the statue in black plastic. Later, a crew of heritage cleaning professionals started to remove the paint.
Last year, London’s Metropolitan Police stated that in the wake of the Australia Bondi Beach and England Synagogue antisemitic attacks, use of the phrase “globalise the Intifada” in public protests would trigger arrest because “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed – words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”