Protestor attempts to destroy statue outside BBC headquarters made by sculptor who sexually abused his daughters

Metropolitan Police officers reported to the building at around 4:15 pm on Wednesday responding to reports that a man claimed a ladder to reach the 10 foot tall figures placed above the front entrance of the building, according to The Telegraph.

"Officers attended and remain on scene attempting to engage with the man," police said. "Another man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage."

The sculpture depicting Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare's play The Tempest was created by Eric Gill, and installed on the building in 1933.

Gill is said to have sexually abused two of his daughters.

"His religious views and subject matter contrast with his sexual behaviour, including his erotic art, and (as mentioned in his own diaries) his extramarital affairs and sexual abuse of his daughters, sisters and dog," a biography on the Tate museum website reads.

The man hammered away at the statue, sending shards of the statue and dust down to the ground. He also wrote the words "Time to go was 1989" and "noose all paedos" on the statue.

According to The Telegraph, photos captured at the scene appear to show that the penis of the child in the statue was removed by the man.

Two men reportedly attempted to negotiate with the man, saying "If you just come down, we can sort this out."

This incident has come around a week after a jury cleared four people of criminal damages in connection to the toppling of Edward Colston, a slave trader.

The statue was torn down during a Black Lives Matter riot in Bristol on June 7, 2020, and was rolled into the water nearby.