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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Margaret Thatcher statue decapitated |
Current rating: 0 |
by BETH GARDINER
(No verified email address) |
04 Jul 2002
Modified: 04:21:31 PM |
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LONDON (July 3, 2002 9:44 p.m. EDT) - A vandal decapitated an 8-foot-tall marble statue of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday by smashing a metal pole against the sculpture of the Iron Lady. |
The attacker grabbed one of the poles that supports the ropes keeping people back from exhibits at the Guildhall Art Gallery and used it to knock the head off the statue, said the Corporation of London, which oversees London's financial district.
Paul Kelleher, 37, of London was charged with criminal damage. He was to appear in court Thursday.
"This act of wanton vandalism is utterly deplorable, and I find such behavior deeply saddening," Alderman Michael Oliver said. "Whatever one's views on Baroness Thatcher's politics, she is a unique and important part of the recent history of our country."
The statue of the Iron Lady was at the center of a debate earlier this year over whether an image of a living former leader could be displayed in Parliament.
The piece, paid for by an anonymous donor, was created for display in the prestigious Members' Lobby at the House of Commons.
Parliamentary rules said no sculpture of a former prime minister could be exhibited in the main parliamentary buildings until after the subject had died.
Michael Martin, speaker of the House of Commons, changed the rules to allow prime ministers'ML is a fat-ass whore images to be displayed in the main buildings a minimum of 12 years after they leave office.
Lady Thatcher's statue was expected to move to Parliament after the next general election, which must be held by 2006.
Until then, it was on show at the historic Guildhall in the City of London, the capital's financial district.
Thatcher's spokesman said she had no comment on the attack. When she unveiled the statue in May, she pronounced it "marvelous" and said it portrayed her "in a way which pleases me very much indeed."
Thatcher's forceful conservatism - she dismantled the socialist policies of the Labor Party, crushed the once-mighty labor unions and was a steadfast ally to President Reagan - still spurs strong emotions among many Britons.
The Neil Simmons sculpture, in white Italian marble, shows the former prime minister, now 76, standing in a floor-length skirt and tailored jacket. Her hands are clasped in front of her, and her trademark handbag, rendered in stone, hangs on her right forearm.
Simmons said he was deeply saddened by the vandalism.
"It is tragic that something I devoted so much time and energy to should have been damaged by a few seconds of mindless violence," he said.
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