A statue of Margaret Thatcher that stands in her home town of Grantham has been vandalised for a third time.
The bronze sculpture, erected on a 10ft-high granite plinth and subject to round-the-clock CCTV surveillance in a bid to ward off vandals, has been spray painted with the words “Tories out.”
The controversial monument sits on St Peter’s Hill, where is was erected on 15 May this year.
Within two hours of its unveilling, however, vandals had thrown eggs at its base, for which a man was later fined £90.
And just two weeks later, the £300,000 statue was daubed with red paint, while a red hammer and sickle were painted on nearby fencing.
The Lincolnshire town was chosen as the site for the statue of Mrs Thatcher after plans to put it in Parliament Square in London were opposed because of fears it would be vandalised.
The third attack on the former prime minister’s statue comes after Liz Truss, who cited Mrs Thatcher as a political inspiration on several occasions, even purportedly in dress, resigned as Tory leader after just 45 days in No 10.
Lincolnshire Police confirmed it was being treated as criminal damage.
A force spokesperson said: “Incident 117 of 22 October is a report of criminal damage to the Margaret Thatcher statue on St Peter’s Hill, Grantham.
“This was reported just after 8am.”
The latest round of vandalism to the monument sparked controversy among Grantham residents reacting to images of the graffiti posted to Facebook.
One wrote: “And this achieves what exactly? Done by a brain-dead yob, no doubt”; a second added: “How old are these people? 12?”
Another commented: “Just shows how people feel towards the Tories in this town and the mess this country is in.
A fourth person said: “We never wanted this statue in the first place. When will the council tear it down???”
A fifth user commented: “On top of the ridiculous cost in the first place, this must be costing the taxpayer a lot of money to clean up every time. What a waste of cash.”
The UK’s first female prime minister – dubbed the Iron Lady – was born in Grantham in 1925 and died in April 2013, aged 87.
The only previous memorial to her in the town was a plaque on the corner of North Parade and Broad Street to mark where she was born.
A South Kesteven District Council spokesperson said: “While SKDC understands the strength of feeling surrounding the memorial, it condemns the actions of those who seek to damage any public property or otherwise break the law.”
