LONDON  –  The man detained on suspicion of defacing the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square has been further arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, police have said.

It is thought to be the first such arrest since the High Court ruled the government’s ban on the group under anti-terrorism legislation as unlawful. The ban has remained in place pending any eventual government appeal.

 On Thursday the Home Office was given permission to appeal. The bronze statue was defaced with red graffiti branding the former prime minister a “Zionist war criminal”. Other phrases including “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine” were sprayed on the sculpture in Westminster, central London.  In the early hours of Friday, graffiti reading: “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada” appeared. A Met Police spokesperson said: “The first officers were on the scene within two minutes. 

The man, who is 38 was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage.”  Cleaners were seen scrubbing paint off the statue on Friday morning. A representative of 10 Downing Street said the attack was “completely abhorrent”.”

Churchill was a great Briton. This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.” Dutch group Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility for the action on Friday morning, posting a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man defacing the statue. 

The group defines itself as “family and friends” of the Palestine Action activists who were charged over a break-in at one of Israel-based defence firm Elbit’s UK sites in 2024. Responding to the attack, a Home Office spokesperson said: “Sir Winston Churchill is a figure of great national pride. The vile vandals defacing this statue are a disgrace.”