Legal & General London office windows smashed and doused in red paint
Police are launching an investigation after Legal and General corporate offices in central London were targeted with red paint splatter.
The headquarters of the international insurance and asset management group was covered in red paint and several windows were seen broken overnight.
The incident follows multiple recent reports of similar vandalism at the offices of JP Morgan, Invesco and Barclays in the city.
A Legal and General spokesman said: “We are aware of the incident at One Coleman Street and are working with City of London police who are currently investigating. The safety and health of our staff remains our top priority.”
Much of the building’s exterior was cordoned off by early Tuesday afternoon; While crews worked to clean the glass and paint, staff had to show identification to enter the building.
Inspector Jesse Wynne, of the City of London Police, said: “At around 2am on 14 October, the City of London Police were alerted to individuals vandalizing a building in Coleman Street.
“The suspects broke windows and sprayed red paint on the front of the building. The investigation is clearly being investigated and no arrests have been made at this stage.”
Although the motive behind the incident is unclear, it follows similar attacks on other financial services provider offices in London.
In some other incidents, red paint believed to be related to the Israel-based military technology company was accompanied by the words “Drop Elbit”.
The Palestine Movement claimed responsibility for the vandalism of the Invesco office and similar attacks on 15 branches of Barclays last year.
At the time, the bank stated that the protests were carried out to “demand that the bank withdraw from Israel’s arms trade and fossil fuels.”
Separately, there have been reports of “red paint vandalism” across the UK in areas such as Huddersfield, Bradford, Reading, Edinburgh and other London neighbourhoods.
These appear to target residential homes rather than workplaces.
