The posters had been put up around Golders Green but were allegedly torn down by staff working for Barnet Council, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Photo taken following removal of one of the posters (credit Barnet Conservatives)

Barnet Conservatives have condemned the removal of posters of Israeli children abducted by Hamas from street furniture in the borough as “disgusting”.

The Tories say council officers tore down the posters, which had been placed around the poles of roadside signs and other public places in Golders Green.

While fly-posting is illegal, the council claims it intervened to try to stop these particular posters from being removed.

But residents contacted Conservative councillors last week to report that they had witnessed council officers removing the posters, which contained images and details of children taken hostage by Hamas earlier this month.

The posters asked people to take pictures of the missing people and share them, adding: “Please help bring them home alive.”

The Barnet Conservatives posted on Twitter on Thursday (26th) that they were “absolutely appalled and angered that Barnet Council officers are going around ripping down these posters of innocent kidnapped children”.

They added: “How dare this council, responsible for the well-being of Britain’s largest Jewish population, take down these posters?

“Barnet’s Labour administration must immediately stop this disgusting practice.”

In a further post, the Tories said they had been told by council officers “that these posters have been taken down upon direction and staff removing these posters told residents that they were being told to take these down”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council whether council officers or contractors working for it had at any point been involved in removing the posters, but the council did not answer.

In response, a Barnet Council spokesperson said: “The claims made in the X [Twitter] posts are misleading. Given this unique situation, Barnet Council’s administration last week intervened to stop posters being removed.

“We’re working with the police and Jewish communities to ensure the campaign to bring home kidnap victims is respected.”

London mayor Sadiq Khan last week condemned the removal of posters of Israeli hostages from a wall in Leicester Square as “in bad taste” and “leading to community discord”.

He told ITV News: “What I’d say to those who are tearing these posters down is, ‘stop it, there is no reason at all to tear these posters down, they’re doing no harm’.”

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