Video: Vandal who desecrated RAF War Memorial

Picture: RAF Benevolent Fund

The RAF Bomber Command War Memorial - and the Animals in War Memorial - were both daubed with graffiti on Monday morning.

The CCTV footage, thought to be captured between 3am and 5am, shows what looks like someone spraying the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park.

The person stops a few times as traffic passes and looks around a lot before eventually moving out of the shot.

Picture: RAF Benevolent Fund

Although the words written on the two memorials were covered up quickly after police made the discovery at around 5am, it is thought “Islam” was written on each of them.

In a separate CCTV clip from a camera pointing towards the centrepiece of the memorial, a person is captured walking around the statue and looking up at it, and is thought to have been recorded in a similar time frame.

The Bomber Command Memorial remembers the sacrifice and bravery of the 55,573 RAF crew who lost their lives in the Second World War and was unveiled by the Queen last summer.

Just last week Dame Judi Dench described herself as being “very proud” to be the first patron of a new campaign to preserve it for generations to come.

The Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane is “a powerful and moving tribute to all the animals that served, suffered and died alongside the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces in the wars and conflicts of the 20th century”, according to the Animals in War Fund website.

The monument was unveiled by the Princess Royal in November 2004 - the 90th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

The fund’s website says the £2 million needed to build the monument came from “a national appeal and the generosity of many individual donors, charities and companies”.

The Metropolitan Police said the incidents were being treated as criminal damage and called on anyone with information to call Westminster CID via 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555