Margaret Thatcher statue in her home town is vandalised with red paint
Margaret Thatcher statue in her home town is vandalised with red paint just two weeks after it was egged by protestor on the day it was unveiled to the public
- Margaret Thatcher’s statue has been vandalised for a second time in two weeks
- The monument has been spray-painted with a communist symbol at its base
- The £300,000 statue was pelted with eggs on the day of its unveiling on May 15
- Thatcher’s sculpture stands in her hometown of Grantham, Lincolnshire
Margaret Thatcher’s statue in her home town has been vandalized with paint just two weeks after a man was fined for throwing eggs at it.
The £300,000 sculpture of the former Prime Minister – installed on May 15 in Grantham, Lincolnshire – has now been targeted twice.
In the second incidence of vandalism, red paint has been thrown over Thatcher’s likeness.
At the base of the monument, which is designed to protect it from vandal attacks, a communist red hammer and sickle have also been spray-painted.
Lincolnshire Police said: ‘Just before 11.15pm yesterday we received reports of a person shown on CCTV acting suspiciously near the site.
The statue of the former Prime Minister was installed in Grantham, Lincolnshire, just two weeks ago and has been vandalised for a second time
The statue was pelted with eggs on the day of its unveiling and last night was subjected to a second act of vandalism, with red paint thrown at it
A communist hammer and sickle symbol was also spray-painted on the base of the monument – designed to protect it from attack
‘Officers attended and found graffiti had been spray painted onto the barriers surrounding the statue, no damage was thought to have been caused to the statue itself.
‘This is being treated as criminal damage and an enquiry is ongoing.’
In February 2019 a planning committee at South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) unanimously voted to house the £300,000 statue, which was meant to be displayed in Parliament Square, Westminster originally.
The local council said that two CCTV cameras as well as a large metal fence around the memorial are there to prevent any future acts of vandalism.
A town hall report states the statue was moved to the area over fears of a ‘motivated far-left movement… who may be committed to public activism’.
After the council approved the large-scale £100,000 unveiling ceremony in 2020, a Facebook group proposed an ‘egg-throwing contest’ at the statue which attracted interest from over 13,000 people.
Plastic sheeting covers the plinth of the newly installed statue of Baroness Margaret Thatcher which is now guarded by two CCTV cameras and a metal fence
The contents of a thrown egg drip down the newly installed statue of Baroness Margaret Thatcher in her home town of Grantham, Lincolnshire
Jeremy Webster was photographed and filmed throwing eggs at the statue of the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher moments after it was unveiled this month
Before the statue had planning permission, Baroness Thatcher was remembered solely by a plaque on the corner of North Parade and Broad Street to show where she was born in the town.
Thatcher was born in Grantham in 1925 and died in London aged 87 in 2013.
Her statue was officially unveiled on May 15 but eggs were thrown at it on the same day.
Jeremy Webster, 59, a deputy director at the University of Leicester’s Attenborough Arts Centre, was later identified as the man responsible for the egging.
He showed up just over an hour after the monument was placed and threw four eggs, one of which hit the statue and then left the scene.
Mr Webster was given a £90 fixed penalty notice under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.
Anyone with information about the latest act of vandalism can contact Lincolnshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 488 of May 28.
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