Petition · past parliament

Preserve all historical, Grade Listed and Scheduled Public Monuments in the UK.

Rejected 12 signatures

What the petition asks

We, the undersigned, witness with our hand our desire for Her Majesty's government to cease and prevent the defacement or removal of UK monuments by Act of legislation in the House of Commons. Statues & monuments which depict 'sensitive' historical figures should be contextualised by signage.
The recent spate of senseless vandalism, defacement and damage to UK historical monuments by ideologically motivated actors has outraged and appalled people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds across the United Kingdom. We petition representatives of Her Majesty's government to prevent, by Act of Parliament, all further such actions; whether they be criminal or sanctioned by local authorities. Instead, we suggest such monuments be explained by new signage and information boards.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Protect all monuments and statues from being taken down: Protect all monuments and statues from being taken down

Make it a specific offence to desecrate national flags, symbols and monuments: Make it a specific offence to desecrate national flags, symbols and monuments

Decisions about individual historical monuments, statues, plaques and street names are a matter for the local authority in which they are located and private landowners, not the UK Government or Parliament.

If you want to raise concerns about a particular historical monument or statue you should contact your local authority about this.

The Local Government Association has published an advice note to help councils work to ensure all sections of the community feel heard by decision-makers and each other: https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/community-safety/statues

Timeline

10 Jun 2020 Petition opened for signatures
22 Jun 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 12
Status Rejected
Rejected 22 Jun 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.