A statue to the former British Prime Minister and war winner Sir Winston Churchill has been vandalised, with shocked residents calling the act “disgusting”.

Sir Winston, who has repeatedly been voted the Greatest Ever Briton, was the Member of Parliament for Woodford, where the crime occurred, from 1945 to 1964. He was 85 when the bronze statue in his honour was unveiled on in 1959.

But the icon has been daubed in orange and pink paint overnight, as noticed by member of the public Adam Penfield, 21, who said:

“I don’t know how or why it happened, but this is a disgusting act on a commemoration of a war hero.

“It is definitely not something you want to see done to an important statue which remembers our MP and the links he had to the area.”

Church End ward Conservative councillor, Tom McLaren, said “It is just awful and I am speechless this has happened to be honest.

“I can’t understand why anybody would want to disrespect someone who was a fantastic servant to the local area, a wartime leader and national hero.

“It beggars belief.

“I am really pleased Redbridge council worked so quickly to clean it.”

A reality TV personality tweeted the image this morning:

Can’t believe what scum have done to the Sir Winston Churchill statue in Woodford pic.twitter.com/iB7MzqvunS — Francesca Essex (@FrankieEssex) October 7, 2015

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police told the Evening Standard; “At approximately 9am this morning, officers from Redbridge were alerted to a statue in Woodford Green that was covered in paint.

“No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.”

Local journalists have tweeted pictures of the statue being cleaned by the council:

Churchill statue vandalised with paint splashed over it. http://t.co/9wSUVexRJ2pic.twitter.com/zKFgxefIM7 — Chloé Farand (@ChloeFarand) October 7, 2015

Last year, a British political candidate was arrested for quoting from a Winston Churchill book.

Paul Weston, chairman of LibertyGB, was taken into custody in Winchester, southern England, after delivering a speech in which he quoted an excerpt from the wartime Prime Minister’s book The River War which criticises Islam.