POLICE have launched a criminal damage probe after a statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett was defaced during a trans rights protest in London.
The bronze sculpture of the 19th century women’s rights campaigner was daubed with graffiti reading “f** rights” during the rally in Parliament Square on Saturday.
PAThe Met Police issued an appeal for information today[/caption]
PACampaigners held a rally organised by trans rights groups, trade unions, and community organisations[/caption]
It was among seven statues vandalised as thousands of activists took to the streets of the capital to protest the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman.
The Met Police issued an appeal for information today.
It said its officers are currently trawling CCTV footage from Westminster.
They are also dealing with a number of complaints from the public about signs and images shared on social media which were reportedly displayed at the protest.
No arrests have been made yet.
Chief Superintendent, Stuart Bell, who led the policing operation, said: “Criminal damage and vandalism like this has no place on the streets of London and spoils the area for locals and those visiting.
“While the police support the public’s right to protest, criminality like this is senseless and unacceptable. We are pursuing this and will take action against those responsible.”
A statue of former South African prime minister Jan Smuts was also targeted by vandals who daubed it with the words “trans rights are human rights”.
City Hall is planning to remove the graffiti using specialist equipment.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it acts as a “reminder that the Supreme Court ruling is not the end of the story.”
She told The Sunday Telegraph: “The trans-activist fanatics who have threatened and intimidated the women and men who disagree with them will not give up.
“This is why we need robust enforcement of the law and the least the Labour Government can do is defend common sense from these violent thugs and extremists instead of hiding away on this issue.”
Ex-Team GB swimmer Sharron Davies MBE, 62, branded the vandals “trans hoodlums”.
Posting on X, the former Olympian and women’s rights campaigner, said: “That’s how much they hate women.”
While Thin Blue Line actor mill James Dreyfus, 56, urged activists to “wake up”. He fumed: “Every time I think these fanatics can’t sink any lower, they prove me wrong.”
The rally came after a Supreme Court judge last week ruled that only biological women are women.
Fawcett, who died in 1929, campaigned tirelessly for women to get the vote.
She was the first female to be honoured with a statue in Parliament Square in 2018.
Unveiled by then-Prime Minister Theresa May, it portrays Fawcett at the age of 50 holding a banner with the words, “Courage calls to courage everywhere” – a quote from her 1920 speech.
RexTrans rights protesters rallied in Parliament Square yesterday in response to the Supreme Court ruling[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
