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A man was arrested after a statue of late United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill was defaced with red graffiti in London, the Metropolitan Police noted in a post on X.
Photos show the statue and its base defaced with messages such as “NEVER AGAIN IS NOW,” “ZIONIST WAR CRIMINAL” AND “GLOBALISE THE INTIFADA!”
“Overnight, the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square was graffitied with red paint,” the police noted in the post on Friday.
A woman takes photos of the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, which was defaced overnight with red paint and the words “Free Palestine,” in London, England, Feb. 27, 2026. (REUTERS/Carlos Jasso)
“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 police added.
A Dutch activist group claimed credit for the graffiti.
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The statue of Sir Winston Churchill, which was defaced overnight with red paint and the words “Never again is now,” in Parliament Square, London, England, Feb. 27, 2026. (Reuters/Carlos Jasso)
“On the morning of 27th February, the statue of Winston Churchill at Parliament Square was defaced with red paint. This protest was organised and executed by @freethefilton24nl,” a post on Instagram claims.
The post features a pre-recorded statement in which a man says, “My name is Olax Outis. I am a citizen of the Netherlands.”
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The Churchill statue in Parliament Square is vandalized in the early hours of the morning with red paint and anti-Israel slogans including “Zionist war criminal”, “Stop the Genocide”, “Never again is Now,” “Globalise the Intifada,” and what appears to be “Greetings from the Hague” in Dutch on Feb. 27, 2026, in London. (Guy Smallman/Getty Images)
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He identifies himself as “part of a Dutch action group called Free the Filton 24 NL,” explaining, “I’ve come to the United Kingdom to deface statue of one of history’s most well-known war criminals, Winston Churchill.”
