{"id":240823,"date":"2023-11-15T04:13:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T04:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=240823"},"modified":"2023-11-15T04:13:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T04:13:42","slug":"fury-as-pro-palestinian-supporters-deface-rochdale-war-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/world-news\/fury-as-pro-palestinian-supporters-deface-rochdale-war-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Fury as pro-Palestinian supporters deface Rochdale war memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
Police are standing guard in Rochdale tonight after the town’s war memorial was daubed with ‘Free Palestine’ graffiti – just days before Armistice Day.<\/p>\n
Locals have expressed their outrage, with many blaming pro-Palestine supporters in the area, with the monument repeatedly targeted in recent days.<\/p>\n
Vandals stripped Remembrance Day poppies from the cenotaph at the Esplanade in the town centre yesterday.<\/p>\n
And earlier this week, a man was filmed removing Palestinian flags from the monument and propping up wreaths which had been thrown to the ground.<\/p>\n
Police tape has been pictured around the monument this evening and Community Support Officers are standing guard, adding to already increased patrols following the spate of incidents.<\/p>\n
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Police are standing guard in Rochdale tonight after daubed the town’s war memorial with ‘Free Palestine’ graffiti<\/p>\n
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Police tape has been pictured around the monument this evening and Community Support Officers are standing guard<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said of the incident tonight: ‘On the afternoon of Tuesday 7 November graffiti was sprayed on the Cenotaph.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘This is totally unacceptable and is also being investigated by police. The graffiti will be removed as soon as we are able to.<\/p>\n
‘As we said in our initial response \u2013 we are proud of our strong links with our armed forces community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Our war memorials and monuments are incredibly important and should be respected by everyone at all times.’<\/p>\n
Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n