London police said on Saturday a man had been charged with criminal damage for graffitiing 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 on Saturday, some 24 hours after his arrest.

He had been detained within minutes of officers being alerted to the incident, according to the force.

He was due to appear at a London magistrates’ court later on Saturday.

The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue, which workers cleaned off on Friday.

The incident prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office to call the damage “completely abhorrent” and commend police for the swift arrest.

“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said.

The 3.6 metre Churchill statue has been vandalised a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.