An Oxford-educated museum curator has provoked outrage by sharing expert advice on how to dissolve bronze statues using corrosive chemicals in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.
Madeline Odent, curator of Royston Museum in Hertfordshire, sent a series of tweets last night to her 5,164 followers, which were then shared thousands of times.
She wrote that the damage would be ‘irreversible’ and ‘practically impossible to stop’ before saying her next target was ‘marble memorials of racists’ with a picture of Winston Churchill’s plinth.
There a growing demand from protesters for statues up and down the country to be removed from town centres due to their links to the colonial past.
But Mrs Odent’s remarks on her private account prompted fury online, with one follower threatening to report her to Hertfordshire Police and the Met.
Mrs Odent provoked outrage when she shared advice online about defacing statues
American-born Madeline Odent is curator of Royston Museum in Hertfordshire
Mrs Odent published a string of tweets disclosing how to create maximum damage to statues
One of the series of tweets, which attracted many thousands of shares online
She sent the series of tweets to her more than 5,000 followers
Mrs Odent has introduced a radical agenda to the sleepy Hertfordshire museum
The local council distanced itself from her comments, saying it was investigating the matter
In the tweets, which MailOnline is not showing in full, the conservation expert used her knowledge of preserving ancient artefacts to suggest that people use substances found in household products to dissolve public statues.
It is ‘extremely difficult’ to remove the chemicals once they have been applied, she said, adding that ‘it can be done, but the chemical needed is super carcinogenic, so it rarely is’.
‘We haven’t found a way to restore artefacts that this happens to,’ she tweeted. ‘Which is a shame, since we all immediately forget history when statues are destroyed.’
The glamorous curator signed off her thread by posting a photograph of Churchill’s defaced plinth, alongside the message: ‘Stay tuned for our next edition, where we’ll be talking about marble memorials of racists’.
Royston Town Council, which funds the museum, told MailOnline that it was ‘investigating’ and would release a statement today. ‘The Town Council does not endorse the comments or views expressed,’ it added.
Many Twitter users slammed Mrs Odent’s tweets, threatening to report her to the police. ‘Telling people in detail how to vandalise Churchill’s statue (or others) has got to be promoting hooliganism no matter how she twists it,’ one wrote.
American-born Mrs Odent, who studied at a private university in Florida before moving to Britain to pursue a postgraduate course in history at Oxford, has introduced a radical agenda to the sleepy Hertfordshire museum.
In February, she scheduled a ‘Drag Queen Story Time’ event, writing on Facebook: ‘If you’re introduced to difference in a positive way, you’ll respond to difference in a positive way. Thrilled to be putting this on.’
In February, she scheduled ‘Drag Queen Story Time’, though it had to be postponed
Mrs Odent caused outrage when she tweeted advice on how to destroy statues
The local council, which funds the museum, told MailOnline that it is ‘investigating’
It comes as several Labour councils drew up a list of controversial statues in their communities which could be torn down.
Dozens of memorials honouring colonial figures have been targeted for removal by activists, who yesterday crossed another name off their nationwide hit-list.
The monument of 18th Century slave dealer Robert Milligan was uprooted from its spot on West India Quay in London’s docklands to the cheers of spectators.
Many more in the cross-hairs are expected to fall after all 130 Labour-led authorities clubbed together to promise to ‘review the appropriateness of local monuments and statues on public land and council property’.
Several local leaders have already earmarked some statues for removal. Cardiff Council leader Huw Thomas threw his weight behind campaigners wanting to get rid of the statue of slave holder Sir Thomas Picton.
Edinburgh council leader Adam McVey said he would feel ‘no sense of loss’ if a statue to Henry Dundas, who delayed the abolition of slavery, was removed.
Mrs Odent has been curator of Royston Museum and Art Gallery, pictured, since 2018
Some of the tweets criticising Mrs Odent’s publication of advice on destroying statues
Some social media users called for her to be sacked in response to the tweets she posted
Plymouth council said a public square named after slave trader Sir John Hawkins would be renamed. Mayor or London Sadiq Khan is also conducting his own review of statues in the capital.
The 130 Labour councils won the blessing of Sir Keir Starmer’s central party, but senior Tories have lined up to admonish the behaviour.
Andrew Rosindell, Conservative MP for Romford, told MailOnline the wave of statue scrutiny was being driven by ‘a politically-correct gang of anarchists who hate everything about this country’.
Campaigners have also set their sights on statues on private property, such as the monument of Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University, where yesterday crowds of protesters rallied.
Mrs Odent, Royston Town Council and Hertfordshire Constabulary have been approached for comment.