Man arrested after Westminster Abbey portrait of Queen is defaced and chaos as protesters scale Parliament

 
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An official portrait of the Queen in Westminster Abbey was today defaced with spray paint.

The work had only been on display for a few weeks before being vandalised.

The portrait by artist Ralph Heimans, the only official one of the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year, was first unveiled last year. A spokesman for the Abbey, where she was crowned in 1953, said the painting, put up last month, has been removed from public view.

“In an incident at lunchtime today, a visitor to the Abbey sprayed paint on the Ralph Heimans portrait of the Queen presently on display in the Chapter House,” he said. “Until work can be done to remedy the damage it will, very regrettably, not be possible to have the painting on public view.”

The Queen sat for an hour for London-based Australian Mr Heimans at Buckingham Palace last year, leaving him to use his imagination to “place” her in the Abbey in the almost lifesize oil-on-canvas portrait. The painting was due to remain on display until September 27.

A man aged 41 was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, Scotland Yard said.

Fathers 4 Justice claimed that one of its members was responsible for the damage in an apparent 'Father's Day protest'.

A spokesman for the group said it was not an official protest.

In a separate incident, five protesters were arrested during Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Parliament. The Met said they were held after a protest at the Sovereign’s Entrance.

The protest sparked a major security alert.

Police raced through the Palace of Westminster to the House of Lords as demonstrators hurled oil at the Sovereign’s Entrance.

Meanwhile another group clambered onto the roof where they filmed themselves making a statement and then posted it online.

Protesters wanted to highlight plans to extract tar sands oil in Canada for export to Europe, which they argue will damage the environment.

Protester Danny Chivers was amongst those who gathered in Parliament Square. He said: “Harper has been invited to speak here but he is a completely inappropriate choice of speaker.

At about midday two women wearing T-shirts with slogans saying “Stop Harper” and “Respect Indiginous Rights” approached the gate the Queen uses to enter Parliament.

They threw oil on the floor and smeared it on their faces before attempting to chain themselves to a gate.

Police said they arrested two women on suspicion of criminal damage.

Videos posted online appeared to show other protesters on the roof of Parliament.

A female protester in the film tells the camera: “We’re on top of the Houses of Parliament and we are looking across to where we believe Stephen Harper is going to be.

“We’re hoping to get into the room and let the Lords and the Peers of the UK and hopefully the Canadian press know that we should get dirty tar sands out of Europe.”

Two men and a woman were later arrested for trespassing on a protected area.

The security alert came just days before the G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

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