The Highgate monument to German thinker Karl Marx has been vandalised
The London grave of Communist Manifesto author Karl Marx has been vandalised in a suspected hammer attack.
The Grade I-listed memorial in Highgate Cemetary, north London is believed to have been desecrated within the last week.
“Marx’s memorial has been vandalized,” the cemetery wrote on Twitter. “It looks like someone had a go at it with a hammer. This is no way to treat our heritage.”
Karl Marx's memorial has been vandalised! It looks like someone has had a go at it with a hammer. It's a Grade I-listed monument; this is no way to treat our heritage. @MarxLibrary @HeritageCrime We will repair as far as possible. pic.twitter.com/6nY2TJOjw7
— Highgate Cemetery (@HighgateCemeter) February 5, 2019
Ian Dungavell, the chief executive of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery Trust told the Huffington Post that he believed the damage had been targetted against the 19th-century thinker, with it suspected the far-right could be behind the attack.
“This is a really important part of the monument and it seems to be a pretty crude form of political vandalism,” he said.
He added: “What’s upsetting is attempts to make vandalism part of the political process, but I’m heartened by the people who aren’t Marxists but know it’s not the way to treat the monument of such an important historical figure.
“If it is a far-right ideological attack, then people will know it’s wrong and we need to have political debate out in the open and not resort to crude vandalism.”
Police were called to the incident, although no arrests have been made and the investigation has been closed, a Met spokeperson said.
Children’s author Michael Rosen has begun organising a fundraiser for the repairs to the monument, which is owned by the Marx Grave Trust.
Specialists will now need to be called in to fix the damage, although Dungavell conceded that the memorial “will never be the same again”.
