Marx memorial vandalised in London for second time in February

A memorial to Karl Marx has been defaced for the second time in less than a fortnight – this time with red paint – according to the cemetery in north London where the 19th century political philosopher is buried. 

Pictures posted on Twitter by the Highgate Cemetery on Saturday showed the marble gravestone covered in political slogans in red paint. 

“Senseless, stupid, Ignorant,” the cemetery said. “Whatever you think about Marx’s legacy, this is not the way to make the point.”

Vandals back at Marx Memorial, Highgate Cemetery. Red paint this time, plus the marble tablet smashed up. Senseless. Stupid. Ignorant. Whatever you think about Marx's legacy, this is not the way to make the point. pic.twitter.com/hGKBMYGWNy

— Highgate Cemetery (@HighgateCemeter) February 16, 2019

The slogans painted on the memorial accused it of being a memorial to the Bolshevik Holocaust. 

Marx, a German revolutionary socialist, author of Das Kapital and coauthor of the Communist Manifesto, lived in London from 1849 until his death in 1883.

The October Revolution that put the Bolsheviks in power and led to the creation of the Soviet Union occurred in 1917, roughly 34 years after Marx’s death.

A plaque set into the gravestone, bearing epitaphs to Marx, his wife and grandson, was the object of a hammer attack earlier in February. 

His memorial has been defaced in the past with paint and, in 1970, an attempt was made to destroy it with a bomb.

Saturday’s incident was the latest attack on memorials of historic interest in London.

Paint was splashed on a statue of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill last month and on a sculpture commemorating the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command in London’s Green Park.