A DUP MLA has compared the paint attack on the Queen Victoria statue in the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital to the actions of the Islamic State.
North Belfast MLA Brian Kingston was speaking in the Assembly on Monday.
On Friday members of left-wing republican group Lasair Dhearg poured red paint over the statue. Referring to the monarch as the Famine Queen, posting on X the group said: "In a Socialist Republic all the symbols of Empire will be stripped from the land: street names, statues, institutions, and those that will stand against the people organising for a better future. Only the fight for a Socialist Republic can bring about the end of occupation and Imperialism in Ireland."
Speaking in the Assembly today, Mr Kingston branded the attack a "disgraceful and chilling threat".
“The vandalism belongs to the same category of so-called cultural cleansing as the actions of the Islamic State in Syria, when it systematically destroyed and damaged pre-Islamic world heritage sites at Palmyra and elsewhere because it wanted to erase items that did not suit its narrow view of cultural heritage,” he claimed.
“Regarding the vandalism of the statue, where are the words of condemnation of that criminal act of intolerance and hate crime from the Sinn Féin MP for West Belfast, Paul Maskey, and the four Sinn Féin MLAs for West Belfast?
"Will they speak about the matter in the Chamber today? The Royal Victoria Hospital is the major trauma hospital for Belfast and beyond, where doctors, nurses and staff work tirelessly to save lives.
“People visit the site in times of emergency, as well as for the full gamut of medical procedures, including maternity services. The hospital was renamed after Queen Victoria in 1899, which is before any of us were born. It should not be targeted in violent political protest. If it is not possible for a major hospital to be a safe place in West Belfast, how could a major sporting venue or even a concert venue be viewed as a safe place to visit?
“Let me be clear to those who think that they can erase the British identity from Northern Ireland: we are going nowhere.”
