LONDON: London police said Saturday a man had been charged with criminal damage for defacing a statue of Britain’s World War II prime minister Winston Churchill with pro-Palestinian slogans. The monument in the central Parliament Square was smeared with red paint early on Friday and “Zionist war criminal” among the slogans written on it. The Metropolitan Police said Caspar San Giorgio, 38, of no fixed address, was charged early Saturday, some 24 hours after his arrest. He had been detained within minutes of officers being alerted to the incident, according to the force.

Premier definito “criminale guerra sionista”, arrestato un 38enne

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