Police have urged anyone directly involved in the toppling and dumping of Edward Colston's statue to come forward "before a media appeal becomes necessary".
Black Lives Matter protesters pulled down the 17th century slave trader's monument at around 2.30pm yesterday (June 7), before tipping it into the floating harbour.
Avon and Somerset police say they have gathered "a large amount" of footage showing the incident in the city centre.
A force spokesperson said: "An investigation into the criminal damage caused to a statue during a protest in Bristol yesterday is continuing.
"Our inquiry team are not in a position to release images of those we’d like to speak to about this incident, but the footage clearly shows the small group of people who were directly involved.
"We’d urge these people involved in the damage to contact us as soon as possible to help us with our enquiries, before a media appeal becomes necessary."
Officers investigating the damage to the bronze figure have identified 17 suspects, Superintendent Andy Bennett revealed today.
The Bristol police commander told Bristol Live: “I suspect we might ask some people to voluntarily attend and talk in a police station, but we haven’t got that far.
“Police cannot choose which laws to enforce. The statue kind of belongs to the people, but really it belongs to [Bristol City Council].
“The council is the victim of this piece of damage. In order to take a case to court, you need a victim, so we need to have a mature conversation with the council."
The force spokesperson said: "If you filmed the damage being caused and have not yet contacted us, then you can provide the footage via this form."
