Winston Churchill statue defaced with graffiti

The statue of the former prime minster has since been cordoned offPA Media

The statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square has been defaced with graffiti branding the former prime minister a "Zionist war criminal".

Other phrases including "Stop the Genocide" and "Free Palestine" were sprayed in red paint on the bronze sculpture in Westminster, central London. Further graffiti reads "Never again is Now" and "Globalise the Intifada".

The statue has been cordoned off and was being cleaned on Friday morning.

In December both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced anyone chanting "globalise the intifada" would face arrest.

The statue was being cleaned on Friday morning

The decision by the two forces came in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, and the terror attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester in October.

The Metropolitan Police and Westminster City Council have been contacted for comment.

The former prime minister's statue has been vandalised several times in the past, including during protests.

In June 2020 it was scrawled with graffiti accusing Churchill of being a racist, during a Black Lives Matter protest triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US.