Pride flags outside Tube station to be permanently removed because of vandalism

A London council has been forced to remove their pride flags after they were repeatedly vandalised.

Flags painted on the ground outside Forest Park station were vandalised four separate times times in June and July.

Detectives launched an appeal to find a man, wearing a hoodie and face covering, caught on CCTV covering the flags in black, white and red paint.

But police have said after being unable to identify any suspects they have closed the investigation, and the council has give up restoring the flags.

The Metropolitan Police told Metro: ‘The Met takes all incidents of homophobic and transphobic hate crime, including criminal damage, extremely seriously.

‘A thorough investigation was held following four incidents in 2024 in which painted Pride flags were vandalised in Forest Gate.

‘No suspects have been identified and the investigation has been closed. If any new information is provided to police, this will be assessed.’

The flags were first reported to be vandalised on March 9, and later on June 23 and 26.

The latest incident was reported on July 19.

A fifth incident was also reported in August, but police said they suspected it was an attempt to cover up a previous defacement.

Newham Council have since installed ‘pride wraps on lamp columns’ in the hope this would deter vandals.

They said: ‘The Council has worked alongside local residents to take a firm stand against hate, removing the vandalised Forest Gate Pride flags, with the support of the community, and replacing them with Pride wraps on lamp columns in the area.’

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