Cambridge Police has called off its search for the vandal who destroyed a portrait of Lord Balfour at the University of Cambridge last year.
An activist from Palestine Action – the direct action group notorious for vandalising private property – slashed the 1914 painting of Lord Arthur Balfour hanging in a stairwell of the library at Trinity College, Cambridge, on March 8 2024.
In a video posted to social media, an unnamed female activist can be seen spraying red paint onto the work before taking out a box cutter, slashing it and pulling apart the canvas.
Despite a CCTV camera in the entrance to the university library, the JC understands that Cambridgeshire Police was not able to identify the suspect, who was also visible in the clip shared by Palestine Action.
The university allegedly handed the footage to the police force – who said they could see images of the suspect entering the library grounds, but not the building itself. The force said they searched cameras throughout the city.
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said: “A thorough investigation was carried out but the investigation has now been filed pending any new information coming to light.”
In a statement, Trinity College said it “continues to condemn this act of vandalism in the strongest terms.
“Trinity College will continue to cooperate with the police so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice.
"The portrait of Lord Balfour by Philip Alexius de László is undergoing restoration.”
In October, the Trinity library stairwell had a large empty space where the painting was formerly hung.
The gap on the wall where Lord Balfour's portrait hung when it was destroyed by an unnamed female Palestine Action activist[Missing Credit]
At the time, Palestine Action released a statement: "Palestine Action ruined a 1914 painting by Philip Alexius de László inside Trinity College, University of Cambridge, of Lord Arthur James Balfour - the colonial administrator and signatory of the Balfour Declaration."
The group have continued their campaign of direct action against various organisations which they claim have links to Israel.
Last week, a historic University of Cambridge building was graffitied with red paint.
A spokesperson from the university said: "We strongly condemn this vandalism of University property. The police have been informed."
Palestine Action said activists wanted full disclosure of the institution's investments and the immediate divestment from "companies complicit in war crimes and the Israeli apartheid regime".
A spokesperson from the group said: "Each life lost in Palestine is a human being with dreams, loved ones, and a future stolen.
"As long as the university continues to profit from violence, we will continue to take action in solidarity with Palestinians who endure daily oppression and destruction."
In February, a High Court judge banned Gaza agitators from disrupting a graduation ceremony at Cambridge University. The injunction would "restrain threatened acts of trespass and nuisance", Yasser Vanderman, the barrister who led the university's legal team, said.
Arguing that because of the "long-standing nature" of the conflict, Vanderman requested and was granted a five year injunction with annual reviews.
