Margaret Thatcher statue planned for hometown ‘needs protecting from vandals,’ police say

  02 February 2019    Read: 2899
Margaret Thatcher statue planned for hometown ‘needs protecting from vandals,’ police say

A statue of the late British leader Margaret Thatcher that could be erected in her hometown will need to be placed on a 10-foot high platform to protect it from vandals, police said.

Police in the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire said the plinth needs to be sufficiently high to ensure no one can climb up and damage the nearly $400,000 statue, local reports said.

Officials also recommend it is erected in a well-lit area with CCTV for additional security.

“The divisive nature of Baroness Thatcher due to her political career and policy legacy and the potential for this to result in vandalism has been raised as a concern,” a report to the South Kesteven District Council states. “In general, there remains a motivated far-left movement across the UK (though not so much in Lincolnshire) who may be committed to public activism.”

The report added that “the passage of time does seem to have diminished that intensity of feeling.”

The statue – which is currently said to be in storage at a “secret location” – will be placed in St. Peter’s Hill if approved, according to the BBC. Members of the South Kesteven District Council is expected to vote on the statue’s proposal next week.

Thatcher, who became Britain’s first female prime minister in 1979 and went on to serve until 1990, died on April 8, 2013. Plans to erect the statue in Westminster were rejected last year after a report warned that it could attract “potential violence and civil disorder,” Sky News reported.


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