Swastika daubed on LGBT+ banner in campus ‘hate crime’

An LGBT+ History Month banner was daubed with a Nazi swastika three hours after being put up outside the Quad.

The sick graffiti

On Tuesday afternoon the union’s LGBT+ officer found the infamous Nazi symbol graffitied in permanent marker.

The banner was removed at 3pm, the same afternoon it was installed outside the entrance to UCL on Gower Street.

The original banner on busy Gower Street

In a statement, the union said the use of the swastika as graffiti constituted a “hate crime”.

UCLU added: “The symbol is indelibly tainted by its use by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust, an atrocity resulting in the murder of many millions of people, among them tens of thousands of LGBT+ people.”

“Its use as graffiti constitutes a hate crime.”

“We refuse to be intimidated. We will be continuing to promote LGBT+ History Month widely across campus and celebrating the presence of LGBTQ+ students, staff and visitors at UCL.”

The union has now reported the neo-Nazi stunt to campus security and the Metropolitan Police.

The incident comes two weeks after racist thugs sprayed a swastika and the words ‘Islam must die’ on a University of Birmingham campus building.

The incident was reported to West Midlands Police

Yesterday marked the beginning of LGBT+ History Month on campus, with events, talks and lectures taking place across February.

UCLU LGBT+ officer Tom Robinson said: “This incident serves as a reminder that people are still here who don’t like that we exist.”

“We don’t know who did it, and Gower Street is a busy public road, so it may not have been a UCL student, but it’s obviously a studenty area.”

UCLU: “We refuse to be intimidated.”

Speaking to the Tab, UCLU Jewish Society President Elliot Miller said: “Only recently swastikas were drawn alongside Islamophobic graffiti at Birmingham University.”

“The Jewish Society stand in solidarity with all minorities targeted by neo-Nazi hatred.”

“We will continue to l fight against racism and fascism on campus.”

In their statement, UCLU also provided resources for students experiencing hate crimes based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.