A group of young volunteers from Leeds have come together to clean the vandalised Queen Victoria statue in Woodhouse Moor.
The monument in Hyde Park was vandalised by protesters, who sprayed it with graffiti and labelled the monarch as a "slave owner" and a "slag".
Volunteers brought a ladder and equipment, with additional cleaning supplies donated to the group by Bramley Iron Mongers after the council had also cleaned parts of the statue.
Those taking part were quick to stress that they supported the Black Lives Matter protests, and that they weren't doing this due to any right-wing political beliefs. Instead, they stated they needed to clean it as this was an important part of the city's history.
Volunteer Matthew Caton was among those taking part, after he organised a group clean up on social media.
He said: "It's been absolutely great, I've got people helping who I never expected to come out. I organised this over Instagram, and it turns out lots of others had organised groups to take part too, and we all got here without anybody knowing just how many would be taking part.
"We've got a lot of the damage off, and I don't think now it's noticeable. Or if it is, it'll stand as a monument to the fact this damage was done."
Volunteers hailing from different cultures took part, with Leeds residents joined by immigrants from Libya and Turkey, who volunteered to help clean the statue.
This is a point Matthew was eager to stress, at a time when the debate surrounding these monuments is proving divisive.
He continued: "None of us are right wing, we all accept that humanity - no matter race, creed, colour or sex - should have the same human rights across the world. We support Black Lives Matter.
"But a line has been crossed. British values are freedom, democracy and a right to free protest, not mindless violence and vandalism, that solves nothing.
"I'm proud to be from Leeds, my family have lived in the city for decades. My grandmother on my mum's side was an Indian who came from the partition, while on my dad's side they were German Jews, they came to this country as refugees in the 1880's. This city looked after them.
"I agree with the removal of some of these statues, like the Colston one, but I couldn't stand to see the monument of this icon in a major park in Leeds absolutely desecrated.
"If we looked back two generations and saw what our grandparents believed, we'd be absolutely disgusted. But we have to look at what they've given us, and everything we enjoy in the world is because of them - and that's why these monuments are here."
Matthew is in the process of organising a petition to erect a monument honouring the Royal Navy West Africa Squadron, who freed 150,000 West Africans from the slave trade during the 1800's.
LeedsLive also spoke to Joe Renwick, another of the volunteers taking part.
He said: "It's been great. Bramley Iron Mongers donated sponges and buckets to help us clean, and we've got about eight volunteers up here now - we're just on the final side, and it's almost back to its old, pretty self.
"I totally agree with the protests, but I feel like it's been done in the wrong way. I don't think a monarch who came to power four years after the slave trade was abolished deserves to be called those sorts of names.
"The people of Leeds won't stand up for that, and all the businesses and the community have been coming by and getting involved. These memorials don't deserve to be targeted."
