Man, 25, arrested after protesters steal statues from University of Manchester

A man has been arrested after protesters stole two statues from a University of Manchester building.

Activist group Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident at the Chemistry Building on the Oxford Road campus last Friday (November 1). The group shared a clip on X, formerly Twitter, of two hooded protesters using hammers to smash their way through a glass cabinet.

They they appeared to grab the statues from inside the cabinet. The group said the sculptures were of Chaim Weizmann, Israel's first president, who had earlier been an academic at the university.

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Palestine Action has since 'beheaded' one of the busts, according to a post on social media. But while one of the two sculptures is of Mr Weizmann, the second is of Harold Baily Dixon, a former professor of chemistry at the University of Manchester.

Prof Dixon specialised in the cause of mine explosions, and used this knowledge in the First World War as the Deputy Inspector of High Explosives for Manchester. He was also an amateur footballer who played for Oxford University in the 1873 FA Cup Final and an early supporter of women's education in physics.

It's not yet known which sculpture Palestine Action has 'beheaded', although Greater Manchester Police said both statues had been 'defaced'.

The force has been investigating the burglary and said officers had "trawled and reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV footage" over the last week.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary this morning (Friday). He remains in custody ahead of being questioned by detectives. Officers have also carried out two search warrants in the Greater Manchester area, GMP said.

Detective Chief Inspector Jill Billington said: “We know that this incident has caused considerable distress across the community, many of which have come to Manchester to work and study. We understand that this has caused upset and unrest and we know that the shockwaves are being felt much wider than the local student community.

“We will always take incidents of this nature very seriously and we have been working with partners around the clock, and I am pleased to say that this morning we have made an arrest. This is only the first step, there is much more work that is happening behind the scenes to apprehend all those involved.

“I hope the latest action reassures our communities and sends a message to those intent on committing these types of criminal acts. It’s not acceptable and is not tolerated in Greater Manchester.

“We are continuing to appeal for information and ask anyone who may have seen something suspicious to contact us as a matter of urgency, please don’t assume we already know this information."

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police via 101 or gmp.police.uk, quoting log 4035 of 01/11/24. A public portal has also been set up for people to submit information or footage to. You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.