Orpington's MP was among a group of Conservatives asked to stop cleaning a memorial to Winston Churchill which was graffitied by protestors. 

Gareth Bacon was one of seven 'Blue Collar Conservative' MPs who attempted to remove the spray paint, before a Heritage Warden intervened to protect the listed memorial on Parliament Square. 

The cleaning team said the wrong approach could leave the plinth permanently marked. 

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Carl Dinnen, reporter for ITV, tweeted: "Some ‘Blue Collar Conservative’ MPs have come to try and clean the remaining graffiti from Churchill’s plinth.

"They’ve been asked to stop by a Heritage Warden who said the listed memorial had to be cleaned by official cleaners.

"The cleaning team here say the wrong approach (and there have been several attempts today) can leave the memorial permanently marked.

The cleaners say they have a chap who is the specialist in cleaning these memorials.

"His name is Winston."

A protestor scrawled "was a racist" underneath Winston Churchill's name. 

Thousands of anti-racism protesters attended rallies across the UK on Sunday, including one where a controversial statue of a slave trader was pulled down by activists.

Demonstrators flooded the streets around the US embassy in central London before marching on Westminster, protesting against racial injustice and police brutality.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the demonstrations had been "subverted by thuggery" following clashes between pockets of protesters and police the day before.

In Bristol, protesters toppled the bronze memorial to slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it into the harbour.

Demonstrations were carried out peacefully for much of the afternoon in London, but bottles were thrown at officers who caught someone trying to pull a flag on the Cenotaph shortly before 9pm.

The crowd - much smaller than earlier on Sunday - shouted "no justice, no peace" as they moved down Whitehall and let off smoke bombs as a police helicopter buzzed overhead.

Scotland Yard said 12 people have been arrested in connection with Sunday's protest, the majority for public order offences, while one was for criminal damage following an incident at the Cenotaph.

The force said that a small number of protesters threw objects including glass bottles. Some eight officers received injuries, it added.

On Sunday evening, Mr Johnson tweeted: "People have a right to protest peacefully & while observing social distancing but they have no right to attack the police.

"These demonstrations have been subverted by thuggery - and they are a betrayal of the cause they purport to serve.

"Those responsible will be held to account."