A Leeds MP says the people who covered a Queen Victoria statue with graffiti should be prosecuted and described their actions as "vandalism and thuggery".
The words "slag", "slave owner" and the "BLM" acronym were spray painted on the statue in Woodhouse Moor, Hyde Park, on Tuesday, June 9.
It is one of the monuments that has been targeted by anti-racism activists after a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled by large crowds of Black Lives Matter protestors in Bristol on Sunday, June 7.
Leeds City Council has now promised to carry out a city-wide review of statues in the city and the "related cultural history", but Andrea Jenkyns, the Tory MP who represents Morley and Outwood, has condemned the vandalism and criticised the review.
Responding to the vandalism of the Queen Victoria statue, she tweeted: "Wanton vandalism and thuggery.
"The perpetrators need to be held accountable and brought to justice. Historical statues should not be removed; we cannot change our past.
"Far better to learn the lessons from our history. First our statues, then comedy shows; what next?"
'You cannot erase history, only learn the lessons from it'
Commenting on the review, she wrote: "Labour-run Leeds Council's great use of taxpayers' money.
"How about condemning this vandalism instead of appeasing it. You cannot erase history, only learn the lessons from it."
Queen Victoria became monarch in 1837 - four years after the abolition of slavery.
But the British Empire did expand during her 63-year reign, colonising a quarter of the world's land including countries such as India, Zimbabwe and Australia.
Anti racism campaigners are also calling for a statue of former British prime minister Sir Robert Peel to be removed.
The monument has stood at the northern edge of Woodhouse Moor since 1937, but the campaigners say it is a symbol of slavery and colonialism.
