A memorial to Sir Captain Tom Moore has been vandalised by a protestor campaigning against the use of private jets in the UK.
Maddie Budd, 21, poured what she claimed was faeces and urine over the statue of the late British Army Officer in Hatton, Derbyshire.
Footage of the stomach-churning incident has appeared on the campaign group End UK Private Jets’ social media pages.
Speaking about her protest, the former medical student from Wales, said: ‘People are going to say that he’s a hero, people are going to say that this is profoundly, obscenely disrespectful to his life, and to the NHS he stood up for and I agree.
‘I was studying to become a doctor because I believe in taking care of people. If we believe that the NHS is important, if we believe in taking care of each other, if we believe that NHS workers are doing essential work, why are forcing our healthcare system into collapse, why are we forcing our civilisation into collapse, why is basically no-one taking this genocide of all humanity seriously?
‘All of this is true and the Government won’t even End UK Private Jets, every time one takes off, it pours a bucket of sh*t and blood onto everything that Captain Tom stood for’.
End UK Private Jets is a small group protesting against carbon emissions by high-end aircraft.
The niche outfit which organised the stunt only has a handful of followers online and appears to have only recently been set up.
The bizarre stunt bore the hallmarks of an elaborate wind-up but the two people apparently behind the group posted a rambling hour-long video explaining why they’re protesting online.
Metro.co.uk has approached the group for comment.
Captain Sir Tom Moore rose to prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic when he embarked on a quest to complete 100 walks around his garden in a bid to help raise money for NHS Charities.
He was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle in July 2020 and he received over 150,000 cards on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
By the time he turned 100 years old, he had raised £32.79 million.
He died on February 2, 2021, at Bedford Hospital.
It’s not the first time the memorial erected in his honour has been defaced – in December 2021, a vandal spray-painting the word ‘IRA’ over it.
‘I was on a walk around the meadow when I saw it – it made me feel physically sick,’ said a passerby who reported the graffiti last year.
‘I had to go back home and fetch a bin bag to put on him. I couldn’t let people see him with that graffiti on, it’s not nice.
‘I hope they’re pleased with themselves, it’s beyond belief.’
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