Pride flags outside Tube station removed permanently due to repeated vandalism

16 January 2025 , 15:56

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A London council has been forced to remove their pride flags after they were repeatedly vandalised.

Flags painted on the ground outside Forest Gate station were vandalised four separate times times in June and July.

Detectives launched an appeal to find a man, wearing a hoodie and face covering, caught on CCTV covering the flags in black, white and red paint.

But police have said after being unable to identify any suspects they have closed the investigation, and the council has give up restoring the flags.

The Metropolitan Police told Metro: ‘The Met takes all incidents of homophobic and transphobic hate crime, including criminal damage, extremely seriously.

‘A thorough investigation was held following four incidents in 2024 in which painted Pride flags were vandalised in Forest Gate.

Image released as investigation into Newham Pride flag vandalism continues Detectives who are investigating a linked series of homophobic hate crimes in Newham have released an image of a person they would like to speak to. Police were called early in the morning of Sunday, 23 June after a large painted Pride flag on the pavement outside Forest Gate Railway Station, in Woodgrange Road, E7, had been vandalised. A further report was made on the morning of Wednesday, 26 June regarding criminal damage to two other flags at the same location. All three flags were damaged with red paint. Detective Inspector James Rush from the North East area?s Public Protection team, who is leading the investigation, said: ?We believe that the same person committed these offences, which we now know took place at between 05:00hrs and 05:30 on Sunday, 23 June and at about the same time on Wednesday, 26 June. ?As our investigation continues at pace, we have today issued an image of a person we would like to speak to in connection with the offences. The image was captured on Wednesday, 26 June. ?While the person?s face is covered, we hope that someone who lives or works in the area may recognise the individual from their distinctive clothing. If you think you may recognise the person shown in the image ? maybe they are a customer at your shop, or live nearby ? I would urge you to contact my team. ?I understand providing information to police can be intimidating, but I can reassure the public that any information provided will be handled sensitively. If you would rather provide information anonymously, please contact Crimestoppers.? No arrests have been made and enquiries continue. Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or visiting www.met.police.uk, quoting reference 2433/23Jun. Alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org. qhiquqiqkqihxinv

Detectives launched an appeal to find the vandal (Picture: Met Police)

Tube station forced to remove pride flags after police fail to catch vandal

The flags were repeatedly damaged last year (Picture: Ella Millward)

Detectives are appealing for information after a number of Pride flags were vandalised by two men in north east London. The Metropolitan Police said officers are linking the homophobic attacks in Forest Gate, Newham. Red paint was daubed over a large painted Pride flag on the pavement outside Forest Gate railway station in Woodgrange Road early on Sunday.

No one has been charged with the damage

‘No suspects have been identified and the investigation has been closed. If any new information is provided to police, this will be assessed.’

The flags were first reported to be vandalised on March 9, and later on June 23 and 26.

The latest incident was reported on July 19.

A fifth incident was also reported in August, but police said they suspected it was an attempt to cover up a previous defacement.

The flags have since been removed

One business owner told Metro: ‘I didn’t realise they had closed the investigation. The flags were definitely vandalized quite a few times.

‘Police came and checked my CCTV but I then didn’t hear anything. I don’t know if it was the same person or a group of people.

‘Forest Gate Pride is definitely still going strong. It’s still a very active community but I’m not sure what the next steps are.’

Arwel, assistant manager at the Forest Tavern, said: ‘I helped clean up the damage the first time it happened, because they just used spray paint.

‘But after that they used strong substances until it seeped through the flags and wouldn’t come off unless you ripped the whole flag off, which we then had to do.

‘It’s disappointing it happened, especially because there’s a strong queer community in the area. There are lots of other flags in the area which haven’t been damaged.’

Newham Council have since installed ‘pride wraps on lamp columns’ in the hope this would deter vandals.

The council has installed pride wraps on lamposts instead

They said: ‘The Council has worked alongside local residents to take a firm stand against hate, removing the vandalised Forest Gate Pride flags, with the support of the community, and replacing them with Pride wraps on lamp columns in the area.’

Rob Desroches, founder of Forest Gayte Pride, told Metro: ‘It’s really tragic it happened – it felt like we were being attacked everytime we walked to the Co-op.

‘The flags were in place for four years before it all started, but a month after they were put in someone wrote “save our children” on top of one.

‘After the fourth time, we and the council agreed we should just remove them and look to install something different.

‘It’s really unfortunate that one person has ruined it. Before this the area didn’t feel homophobic, but now we are noticing a lot more derogatory comments online. It’s like people feel they now have permission to be horrible.

‘But this has brought the queer community closer together. On the day they were taken off we had the wraps installed on the lampposts so there wasn’t any point there wasn’t pride imagery in the area.’

Thomas Brown

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London, LGBTQ+, Crime