In pictures: Look, Black Live Matter protesters demolish slave trader statue in England

Protesters pulling down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, south west England, during a demonstration organised to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck in Minneapolis. British protesters tore down the statue of a renowned slave trader and threw it in the harbour on the second day of weekend protests against George Floyd's death. Footage shot by a witness showed a few dozen people tie a rope around the neck of Edward Colston's statue and bring it to the ground in the southwestern city of Bristol.

The figure of Colston was pulled down from its plinth during protests in the city centre and then dumped. Avon and Somerset Police have launched an investigation to identify those involved in the incident.

The contentious memorial was made by sculpture John Cassidy and had stood in the centre of Bristol since 1895. However, over 10,000 people have signed a petition requesting Bristol City Council to have the statue removed.

The incident garnered plenty of celebration among protesters, but police say an investigation has been launched. “There was a small group of people who clearly committed an act of criminal damage in pulling down a statue near Bristol Harbourside. An investigation will be carried out to identify those involved and we’re already collating footage of the incident,” said Superintendent Andy Bennett. When Colston died in 1721, he gave his wealth to charities and his legacy is still visible on Bristol's streets, memorials and buildings.

Colston was a member of the Royal African Company and it transported more than 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Americas. After his statue was toppled to the ground, a protester was seen pictured with his knee on the figure's neck - reminiscent of the video showing Floyd being restrained by a Minnesota police officer.

The statue was dragged through the streets of Bristol and then thrown into the harbor by cheering protesters. The empty plinth was used as a makeshift stage for protesters.

But reactions have been mixed with Home Secretary Priti Patel calling the tearing down of the statue "utterly disgraceful", and adding "it speaks to the acts of public disorder that have become a distraction from the cause people are protesting about".

"It's right the police follow up and make sure that justice is undertaken with those individuals that are responsible for such disorderly and lawless behaviour," she said.

"Statues are about saying 'This was a great man who did great things.' That is not true, he [Colston] was a slave trader and a murderer," said historian Prof David Olusoga.

Meanwhile, the memorial to Winston Churchill in Westminster has been defaced again during London's Black Lives Matter protests. Demonstrators scrawled "was a racist" on the statue of the wartime British Prime Minister in Parliament Square.