A controversial plaque has been removed from a historic statue in Edinburgh - causing a huge row to erupt.
The brass plate was placed on the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square in 2021 following pressure from the Black Lives Matter movement.
It followed a review by the city's council into Edinburgh's links to slavery, which was branded "woke" and "virtue-signalling".
The scheme selected a number of street names and statues with alleged links to the slave trade.
The scheme selected a number of street names and statues with alleged links to the slave trade
PA
One of those identified was the Melville Monument, so the local authority officials pushed ahead with creating a plaque to let visitors know about his alleged role in slavery.
The plaque has received backlash from a number of historians, including Professor Sir Tom Devine who labelled it "flawed" and "inaccurate" in terms of "historical evidence" and said that it "brought dishonour" to the city.
It accused Dundas of being "instrumental in deferring the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade."
The Melville Monument Committee (MMC) has confirmed they were behind the removal of the brass plate and published a letter detailing their reasons.
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"The removal of the plaque is an historic development and momentous occasion in a five- year saga," Founder Viscount Bobby Melville, who is a descendent of Henry Dundas, told the Herald.
"The plaque represented a grotesquely inaccurate version of history that had no place on the monument or in a public square."
He added: "Henry Dundas opposed slavery his entire life. When he developed a plan to abolish slavery and the slave trade together, hardline abolitionists refused to support him, but later regretted this.”
Now, the removal has been dubbed illegal by the Scottish Greens and has been reported to the police.
The city's council looked into Edinburgh's links to slavery, which was branded 'woke' and 'virtue-signalling'
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Council leader Cammy Day said: “We are investigating the improper removal of a plaque at the base of the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square.
"As caretakers to the statue any works to the monument would require the council’s consent, which was not sought or given in this case.”
The MCC are disputing the claims that they had no right to get rid of the plaque because they received no objections from the owners of St Andrew Square, who also own the statue.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We received information regarding a missing plaque from a monument in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh on Wednesday, 20 September. Officers will be speaking to the reporter to gather more detail."
