The iconic Winston Churchill statue on Woodford Green was covered in paint by vandals overnight.

Redbridge council workers are currently cleaning the imposing statue, next to Broomhill Walk and High Road, today (October 7) after it was covered in orange and pink paint.

Churchill was Conservative MP for Woodford from 1945 to 1964, and was 85 when he unveiled his bronze likeness on October 31, 1959.

Adam Penfield, of St Barnabas Road, was walking to the tube station this morning and noticed the statue had come under attack.

The 21-year-old said: “I don’t know how or why it happened, but this is a disgusting act on a commemoration of a war hero.

“It is definitely not something you want to see done to an important statue which remembers our MP and the links he had to the area.”

Church End ward Conservative councillor, Tom McLaren, said he was stunned at the attack.

He said: “It is just awful and I am speechless this has happened to be honest.

“I can’t understand why anybody would want to disrespect someone who was a fantastic servant to the local area, a wartime leader and national hero.

“It beggars belief.

“I am really pleased Redbridge council worked so quickly to clean it.”

If anyone has any information, contact police on 111.

This is not the first time this statue on the Green has been targeted.

In 2012, the statue was given a purple wig on the day students from nearby schools finished their A-levels.

The same year, he was fitted with a straitjacket emblazoned with the word ‘Depression’ in a publicity stunt to promote Channel 4’s ‘4 goes Mad’ season.

People took to Twitter to discuss last night's vandalism: