Man with hammer seen attacking statue outside BBC HQ

He uses ladder to reach artwork over entrance to Broadcasting House

A man climbed onto the statues Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare’s play The Tempest by the sculptor Eric Gill outside the BBC’s headquarters in central London (PA)

A controversial statue over the entrance to the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London has been damaged by a man with a hammer.

The individual used a ladder to reach the statue by Eric Gill while another man on the ground shouted about the sculptor’s history of paedophilia.

The BBC has previously faced calls to remove Prospero and Ariel, which was installed in 1933.

Gill’s diaries, published decades after his death in 1940, revealed he sexually abused his daughters and family dog.

Shards of stone have been falling from the BBC building and the man has written the words “noose all paedos” on the statue. Images from the scene appear to show the penis of the child in the piece has been removed.

Police, who were called to the scene at around 4.15pm, said they were trying to “engage” with the man wielding the hammer, and have arrested another man on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage.

The have cordoned off the entrance to the building.

Gill was known for the eroticism of his art and detailed abusing his daughters, sisters and dog in his diaries, according to the Tate museum.

Nearly 2,500 people have previously signed a petition demanding the removal of the sculpture on the website of political activist group 38 Degrees.

The BBC declined to comment about the attack.

It comes a week after a jury cleared four people of criminal damage after they pulled down the statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston.

The bronze memorial was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol in 2020, before being rolled into the water. Those responsible were acquitted last week following an 11-day trial at the Old Bailey.