Criminal damage was caused to Walker’s Plinth on the city’s walls after paint bombs were thrown at it.<\/p>\n
The incident was reported to police just before 6.40pm on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
A PSNI spokesperson confirmed it is being investigated as a sectarian hate crime.<\/p>\n
A number of individuals are believed to have been involved in the incident which occurred sometime between 6.20pm and 6.40pm.<\/p>\n
A statue of the city’s governor during the Siege of Derry, George Walker, stood on the plinth for almost 150 years until it was blown up by the IRA in 1973.<\/p>\n
The plinth is all that remains of the statue erected in 1826 to commemorate the leader\u2019s role in the 105 day Siege of Derry which marked a pivotal moment in the history of Ireland, Britain and Europe. <\/p>\n
More than 10,000 people died, the majority of them civilians.<\/p>\n
It took place against the background of the deposed Catholic King James II’s attempt to regain his crown from his Protestant son-in-law, King William III.<\/p>\n
The incident comes following a spate of sectarian hate crimes in Derry over the weekend. <\/p>\n
PSNI Chief Inspector Luke Moyne said: \u201cAt this stage, as enquiries into each of these incidents are ongoing, we are continuing to work with relevant partners and stakeholders, focusing our patrols where they are needed and taking positive action where we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who engages in anti-social behaviour needs to consider the consequences of their actions and of the dangers of getting involved in this type of behaviour.<\/p>\n
“Ultimately, they could end up with a criminal record which may impact their future employment and travel prospects.\u201d<\/p>\n
It follows condemnation after video footage was circulated appearing to show two boys being set upon by a gang of youths.<\/p>\n
One is seen being punched and kicked while sitting down while another is repeatedly pounded with a garden table while lying on the ground.<\/p>\n
The PSNI is probing a number of incidents including criminal damage caused to a bus and disorder over the weekend. <\/p>\n
A vehicle carrying two police dogs was damaged by young people in the Irish Street area, the canines were not injured.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in councillor Christopher Jackson has called for calm after a sectarian attack in Nelson Drive led to a number of disturbances in the Waterside area over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sectarian attack in which two young men were viciously beaten in the Nelson Drive area on Saturday night was appalling and I would urge anyone with information about who was responsible to bring it forward,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere can be no place for sectarianism and such attacks in this society but neither can there be any justification for the subsequent disturbances which took place throughout the wider Top of the Hill area on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of this community do not want further violence or for any more young people to be caught up in such incidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow is the time for calm and to allow the proper authorities to get on with their job of bringing those responsible for the attack to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foyle SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said: \u201cSickened by what I’ve seen circulating on social media \u2013 two young fellas being set upon by a gang in a savage attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s being reported that this was a sectarian attack and has the potential to light the fuse on a situation that has been simmering in the Waterside for some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that peace prevails and no retaliation is sought. Inevitably innocent people will get hurt or even worse \u2013 as I watched the video I could not help but think of my old schoolmate Paul McCauley, who died as the result of a sectarian attack in the Waterside nearly 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the two boys who were attacked make a swift recovery from their physical injuries and the undoubted psychological impact that such trauma can bring.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone with information about the attack should bring it to the police and those responsible must be apprehended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local councillor Gary Donnelly also posted online saying: \u201cSickening scenes appear to show two young boys being brutally beaten by a number of others in what is claimed to be a sectarian attack. I hope those attacked make a full recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will inevitably cause anger and I would appeal for calm and not to respond with any form of sectarianism.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttacks on anyone because of their perceived religious affiliation is completely wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Criminal damage was caused to Walker’s Plinth on the city’s walls after paint bombs were thrown at it.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[23196,1817,1144,1610,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-62621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-brett-campbell","9":"tag-derry-news","10":"tag-northern-ireland","11":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114426332144642003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}