CCTV shows pensioner defacing Margaret Thatcher statue with ‘b*****d’ slur | UK | News

A pensioner has been caught on camera seemingly scribbling a rude word on the statue of Margaret Thatcher in her hometown.

The £300,000 statue of the Iron Lady was marked with the word ‘b*****d’. Police are now looking into this recent attack, which is thought to have happened overnight between 5 and 6 March, around midnight in Grantham.

Lincolnshire Police have shared a photo from CCTV footage showing a pensioner apparently writing the offensive message in paint.

The person is seen wearing a long coat, a white patterned scarf, and has short grey hair. Cleaners were able to clean off the word by lunchtime today, but police are asking for the person in the photo to come forward.

The 10ft tall statue was revealed in May 2022 but faced backlash from some people, who threw eggs and paint at the sculpture.

This recent attack comes in the week of the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike, which started in 1984 and went on until the next year.

The late Tory PM, who was in charge of Number 10 from 1979 to 1990, closed 20 coal mines, resulting in the loss of 20,000 jobs.

Thousands of police officers were brought in to help manage the picket lines as about three quarters of the country’s 187,000 miners went on strike.