The Nelson Monument on Calton Hill was sprayed with red paint, reportedly in the early hours of Saturday morning (20 December 2025), by a group of pro-Palestine activists called “Justice for the hunger strikers”.
The Trust were dismayed by the attack. The Nelson Monument belongs to the Common Good of the people of Edinburgh. It is our heritage. It doesn’t belong to the UK Government.
The incident was reported in the Scotsman and Edinburgh Evening News with a story by Rachel Ferguson on Tuesday 23 December entitled ‘Edinburgh’s historic Nelson Monument on Calton Hill vandalised by pro-Palestine group’.
We have been in discussions with the City of Edinburgh Council about security on the hill. In view of the series of incidents, of different kinds, we have had during 2025, we think improvements are overdue.
Update: as of 24 December, much of the paint has been removed, only that that was splashed high up on the stonework now remains. See the later three images below.
