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Sir Ronald Fisher memorial in Cambridge targeted by activists

Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge Work to clean the spray paint at the Gate of HonourExtinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge
Workmen were cleaning the spray painted message from Gonville & Caius College's Gate of Honour on Friday morning

The entrance to the site of a memorial honouring a eugenicist has been spray-painted by anti-racism activists.

Protesters want the stained glass memorial window to geneticist Sir Ronald Fisher removed from Cambridge University's Gonville & Caius College.

Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge (XRYC) wrote "eugenics is genocide - Fisher must fall" on the college's Gate of Honour.

The college said the matter was one for "debate and decision".

A statement on its website said it was "aware of the growing concern and anger" around "this important but complex question".

Sir Ronald, a statistician and geneticist who pioneered the application of statistical procedures to the design of scientific experiments, was also the founder of the Cambridge University Eugenics Society.

'Topple The Racists'

He was known for arguing people were divided into genetically inferior and superior groups along racial lines.

A stained glass window dedicated to him remains as a memorial at the college he attended from 1909 to 1912.

It has included on an interactive map created by Black Lives Matter supporters called Topple The Racists.

The movement, being backed locally in Cambridge by XR, has been central to protests around the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.

Extinction Rebellion Cambridge Youth Spray paint on the Gate of Honour at Gonville & Caius CollegeExtinction Rebellion Cambridge Youth
Gonville and Caius College said fellows and students were aware of growing concern and anger towards the Sir Ronald Fisher memorial window

Black Lives Matter demonstrators tore down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston during a protest in Bristol on Sunday.

XRYC spray-painted the Gate of Honour on Thursday evening as part of calls for Sir Ronald's memorial window to be removed and "to recognise the role he played in perpetuating white supremacy".

XRYC member Annie said the campaign group has been "watching in awe as people around the world stand up to their governments and demand justice".

She added: "It is long past time for Cambridge to own up to its racist heritage."

Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge Work to clean the spray paint at the Gate of HonourExtinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge
The Fisher memorial window, currently hidden from view, is one of a number of monuments identified as being racist by Black Lives Matter

Gonville and Caius College said in a statement the issue of the memorial window had "been of interest" for some time.

"The college is taking the matter forward for debate and decision," it added.

The window is not currently visible to students and visitors.