Two men have been arrested after the words "Free Gaza" were painted in red on a building in Piccadilly, central London on Thursday morning.
Red paint was also thrown across the glass entrance to the building, where aerospace company Leonardo UK is based, on Eagle Place, a video showed.
The words "Free Palestine" and "terrorists" were spray painted onto the side of the wall by a man wearing a high-vis vest in the video posted to X, formerly Twitter, showed.
People could be heard chanting "free Palestine" in the background.
A person also scaled the canopy above the entrance to the building, Metropolitan Police said.
The force said in a statement: "Two men have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, which we are investigating as hate crime.
"Messages about the conflict between Israel and Hamas have been painted onto the building in red paint, which has also been thrown at it.
"We have no tolerance for graffiti with a hate connotation in London.
"One of the men who climbed onto the canopy above the building was safely removed by officers.
"Both men are in police custody."
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, which we are investigating as hate crime.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 2, 2023
Messages about the conflict between Israel and Hamas have been painted onto the building in red paint, which has also been thrown at it.
We have no… https://t.co/eE4skDlKx6 pic.twitter.com/zDhEtrK4vX
Leonardo UK has been approached for comment.
Last Friday the Standard reported that anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes almost doubled in little over a week in London, according to police data.
Tensions in the capital are rising after the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel and subsequent bombardment by Israel of Gaza.
More than 75 arrests have been made "linked to the conflict", the Met said.
Commander Kyle Gordon said there had been 408 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the capital so far this month, compared to 28 in the same period last year.
There had been 174 Islamophobic offences compared to 65 in the same timeframe in 2022.
In both cases the numbers were almost twice as high as those given a week ago.
"My colleagues continue to ruthlessly deal with any acts of hate crime that they encounter," Mr Kyle said last week.
