The damage to the Bermondsey war memorial appears to have been caused by someone setting fire to a wreath on the monument, police have said.
The vandalism incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning (April 24) and has been roundly condemned by local residents and politicians. No arrests have been made but the News understands the culprits may have been caught on CCTV in local shops.
A spokesperson for the Met said on Thursday (August 26): “Police in Southwark are investigating an incident of criminal damage to a local war memorial.
“The damage appears to have been caused by a wreath being set on fire at the war memorial at West Lane, SE16 in the early hours of Tuesday, 24 August.
“Officers from South Bermondsey safer neighbourhood team and borough partners have been made aware and an investigation has been launched by detectives from Central South Command.
“There have been no arrests. Enquiries are underway to identify any potential suspects.”
Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove, the Met’s commander for the central south area of London, said the force are open-minded about the motivation for the crime and that there is nothing at this stage to indicate any element of racial or cultural motivation.
Locals lay wreaths at Bermondsey war memorial after attempt to burn it down
It comes after dozens of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe residents gathered for two minutes’ silence at the West Lane war memorial on Wednesday evening (August 25).
Local people laid wreaths at the war memorial and vowed “not to let them win,” referring to the person or people who set fire to the memorial in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The event was organised by Jill Merrett, who runs the local poppy appeal, as well as her deputies Ken Higgins and Geraldine Howard.
Pearly King and Queen of Bermondsey Jimmy Jukes and Michelle Thorpe also took part, as well as former local MP Sir Simon Hughes.
The West Lane monument, which commemorates the sacrifice of local people in both world wars, was unveiled in 1921 and is Grade II-listed. It was cleaned the same day by council workers.
Local MP Neil Coyle said earlier this week that he had seen CCTV footage of the incident. The footage appears to show a lone, slim male, in a high vis jacket, he said. He is in no doubt that it was a premeditated attack. The images, however, do not capture the suspect’s face.
The Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP appealed for any residents in the area to check their own doorbell cameras and any drivers in the area at the time the memorial was targeted to look at their dashcam footage.
Coyle said the council had already done a good job of cleaning up the damaged monument. “The vast and overwhelming majority of local people living here condemn this attacker and recognise the heroism and commitment that the monument marks,” he said. “We are proud of our armed forces’ contribution in every conflict.”
The vandalism has caused widespread outrage, but local historian Gary Magold, who organises memorial services at the monument every year, called for calm.
“It gets cleaned up and we carry on as normal,” he said. “Whoever’s vandalised it has done what they’ve done – but they haven’t won. The irony is that the people that the memorial represents gave them the liberty to do that, they gave this particular individual the freedom to go about the country defacing things.
“It annoys people, but at the end of the day we’ll carry on. We’ll have our service on Remembrance Sunday. That’s something they can’t take away from us.
“The people of Bermondsey are very good. They’ll come along and lay their tributes and take part like they’ve done since 1921. I’m really just very sorry for whoever’s done this. I’m not sure what peace and comfort it will bring them.”
Gary said he believed it was the first time the war memorial has been vandalised in its 100-year history.
“Back in 1921, [Peek Freans owner] Arthur Carr, one of the big movers and shakers in getting the monument put up, said to all the assembled people that it’s down to you and protect it and make sure that it’s not desecrated.
“It’s interesting because even then there was the worry about vandalism. But you had people who were angry and upset that they’d lost their uncles, cousins, brothers, sons.”
“It’s such a shame that somebody has decided to do that. If it’s done for a specific reason, you aren’t gonna get your cause furthered by doing that, you’re only going to anger people.”
Cllr Darren Merrill, the council’s cabinet member for Safer, Cleaner Borough, said: ‘’This is a mindless criminal act that we will not tolerate, We have reported this to the police and offered our help in the investigation. I wish to thank our staff who acted so promptly to clean the memorial and the public for their help.’