Painted Pride flags defaced by vandal for third time in less than a month

A man is wanted for a string of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes after he vandalised Pride flags three times.

The three large Pride flags were vandalised outside Forest Gate railway station, London, on Friday.

This follows vandalism on June 23 and June 26 which police officers say are linked.

No arrests have yet been made.

James Rush from the Metropolitan Police said: ‘We stand with the local LGBTQ+ community and will not tolerate these disgusting, inexcusable hate crimes in Forest Gate.

‘We are committed to continuing our thorough investigation and attempting to identify the offender, who we believe is the same person who committed the damage in June at the same location.

‘The Met is clear that there is no place for hate in London, and my team are already working at pace to complete all lines of enquiry.

‘I want to directly address the local community in Forest Gate. Someone knows who this person is. Do the right thing, and tell police, or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers.’

Caron Harrison, co-founder of Forest Gayte Pride, added: ‘Once again the LGBTQI+ community in Forest Gate and further afield is appalled at the defacing of our flags. We have had an amazing amount of love and support from our many allies and are hopeful that this person will be caught and dealt with.

‘There is far too much hate and we will continue to fight for our rights. They can try to intimidate us and paint over our flags, but they cannot paint over our pride.’

Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101.

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