The statue was boarded up, along with several others, after it was sprayed with graffiti during a Black Lives Matter protest prompted by the death of George Floyd in the US. A spokesman for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who ordered the hoarding to be erected, said: "The covering around the Winston Churchill statue will be removed for the visit of President Macron to London." (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)On Saturday several thousand people arrived in Parliament Square to do so, although the afternoon quickly turned violent. Glass bottles and fireworks were thrown at police and a small group of Black Lives Matter protesters. Last week Emma Soames, the granddaughter of Churchill, said his statue in Parliament Square may have to be moved into a museum if protests continued.

Source: Daily Mirror June 17, 2020 09:19 UTC