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Historic monument targeted in latest Derry sectarian attack

Siege Museum Walkers plinth on Derry's walls covered in paintSiege Museum
The attack took place on Tuesday night

An historic monument on Londonderry's Walls is the latest target in a spate of sectarian hate crimes in the city.

Walker's Plinth was damaged by paint sometime between 18:20 and 18:40 BST on Tuesday.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a number of individuals are believed to have been involved.

It is the latest in a series of incidents in the city over recent days, which are being investigated as sectarian hate crimes.

There was an assault on two teenagers in the Waterside on Saturday, an attack on a bus in the Gobnascale area and an attack on a mural in the Fountain Estate on Sunday.

On Monday, a 21-year-old autistic man was set upon by a group of men in the city's Waterside and needed hospital treatment for his injuries.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme "the sectarianism happening right across this city needs to end".

"As I said in the assembly chamber on Monday, this will ultimately end in somebody being seriously injured or a death."

Gary Middleton wearing navy suit, white shirt and red, white and blue tie, pictured in front of the Foyle Peace Bridge.
DUP MLA Gary Middleton called for the spate of recent incidents to end

The incidents over the weekend sparked calls from the Catholic Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown and Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Andrew Forster for no further escalation.

The SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said he was "sickened" by the attack on the teenagers and Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson appealed for calm.

Shows a man in a light top and wearing glasses standing in front of railings and a concrete monument
Deputy Mayor Darren Guy, pictured at Walker's Plinth on the Derry Walls

The city's deputy mayor, Darren Guy, works in the Siege Museum near the plinth.

He told BBC Radio Foyle a video being circulated on social media appeared to show six or seven youths approaching the monument with bottles filled with paint.

The UUP councillor also called for an end to the attacks.

"This has to stop," he said.

"When sides goad each other, no one comes out a winner, something serious is going to happen."

What is Walker's Plinth on Derry's Walls?

ERIC JONES/GEOGRAPH Walkers plinth on the walls of derry, a stone stucture that previously house a tall statue. the city's bogside can be seen in the backgroundERIC JONES/GEOGRAPH
The monument was also targeted last year

The plinth is located on an area of the Walls overlooking the nationalist Bogside.

It is all that remains of the statue of George Walker, built in 1826 to commemorate his role in the Siege of Derry.

Reverend Walker governed the city during the 1689 siege.

The statue stood on the plinth for almost 150 years until it was blown up by the IRA in 1973.

It was also targeted in a similar attack in July 2024.

Police have appealed for anyone with information about the incident on the Walls to come forward.