Vandalism of Winston Churchill’s statue has been branded “an insult to the man who saved us from the Second World War”.
Brightly-coloured pink and orange paint was sprayed over the statue of the former prime minister in Woodford Green on Tuesday night.
Cllr Linda Huggett (Con, Monkhams) branded the vandalism “unwarranted, unnecessary and cowardly”.
She said: “It is a great shame that such a great man is treated like that and it is an insult to our country.”
This is not the first time the statue has been daubed with paint and Cllr Huggett said she believed it could be linked to anti-austerity protests in Manchester where the Conservative Party conference was held.
“People have no sense of responsibility,” she said. “We put it down to anarchists and anti-establishment people.”
John Lovell, chairman of Woodford Historical Society, said: “Churchill is an iconic figure nationally and locally and to throw paint like that defies description.
“There are no words appropriate to describe that senseless destruction of something we should be proud of.”
Redbridge Council’s anti-graffiti team were seen cleaning the paint yesterday (Weds) morning and all traces of the paint were removed.
The statue of the wartime leader was erected in 1959 at the centre of the constituency which Churchill represented from 1924 to 1964.
In 2012, it was chosen by residents as the symbol for Redbridge to appear on special commemorative badges to celebrate the Olympics.
Mr Lovell said: “This showed he is still held in some esteem locally and I don’t see the sense of what has been done.”
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