Man charged with criminal damage after Churchill statue defaced with graffiti

A 38-year-old man has been charged with criminal damage after graffiti was sprayed on the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Westminster, branding the former prime minister a “Zionist war criminal”.

The Metropolitan Police said Caspar San Giorgio, of no fixed address, was arrested shortly after 4am on Friday.

He was taken into custody and charged just before 4am on Saturday.

Police said he is due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Saturday morning.

The bronze statue, in Parliament Square, opposite the Houses of Parliament, was defaced with phrases including “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine” sprayed in red paint.

Further graffiti read “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada”.

Dutch group Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility for the action on Friday morning, posting a video on Instagram appearing to show the incident in progress.

Free the Filton 24 defines itself as a group of “family and friends” of the 24 Palestine Action activists who were charged over a break-in at one of Israel-based defence firm Elbit’s UK sites in 2024.

On Friday, a Greater London Authority spokesperson said: “We are appalled by this vandalism to the statue of Sir Winston Churchill and work is under way to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.”

Downing Street also commented on the vandalism of the statue, labelling it “completely abhorrent”.

A Number 10 spokesman said: “Churchill was a great Briton. This Government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”