Police hunt for vandals after 7/7 monument is defaced hours before memorial service

Some of the 52 columns of the memorial in Hyde Park were stencilled with red and black slogans

Some of the 52 columns of the memorial in Hyde Park were stencilled with red and black slogans (Evening Standard/Eyevine)

Police are hunting vandals who defaced the stainless steel memorial commemorating victims of the London bombings of 7 July 2005, just hours before survivors and bereaved families gathered to commemorate yesterday’s anniversary of the attacks.

Some of the 52 columns of the memorial in Hyde Park were stencilled with red and black slogans including “4Innocent Muslims”, “Blair Lied Thousands Died” and “J7 Truth”.

David Cameron condemned the attack and sent a floral tribute to be laid.

The monument cost nearly £1m and features stainless steel columns standing 11.5ft tall. Each column honours a person who died when four suicide attackers detonated rucksack bombs on London’s transport system on the morning of 7 July 2005, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “I am shocked and saddened by this incident. It is completely unacceptable.”

The Muslim Council of Britain also condemned the vandalism, saying: “This is a shocking case – 7/7 is an atrocity etched on all our minds, and Muslims joined fellow Britons in speaking out against this terrorism.”