Locals vow to defend monument of Lord Baden-powell at harbour

Local residents have vowed to fight to protect a statue of Robert Badenpowell which is set to be removed temporarily for its protection after it was placed on a target list by protesters.

The statue of the founder of the Scout Movement in Poole Quay, Dorset, has been targeted by campaigners due to his associations with the Nazis and the Hitler Youth programme, as well as his actions in the military.

Vikki Slade, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, tweeted the decision to remove it was taken following a “threat”, adding: “It’s literally less than 3m from the sea so is at huge risk.”

A crowd of local residents gathered around the statue yesterday, vowing to protect it and to stop the council from removing it.

Mark Howell, the local authority’s

“They shouldn’t take it down, I will fight them off. EX-SCOUT LEN BANISTER

deputy leader, said the statue would only be removed to protect it, with the aim of it permanently remaining in its position overlooking Brownsea Island where Baden-powell held his first experimental camp in 1907.

He said: “We are considering whether we should remove it temporarily to protect the statue.”

Len Banister, 78, a former Scout, said of the statue: “He is the reason I am still here, the pleasure he gives to so many people. They shouldn’t take it down, I will fight them off.”

Rover Scouts Matthew Trott and Christopher Arthur travelled from Cwmbran, Wales, to express support.

Mr Trott, 28, said: “I’d rather see the statue placed in a box in a warehouse for the moment rather than at the bottom of the harbour. I have been a Scout my whole life since I was six,

“Scouting is my whole life so he is my hero.”