A pagoda in Battersea Park has stood as a symbol for peace since the mid-1980s.

But on Friday that symbol was defaced as someone graffitied the word 'Mingo' onto it.

This was met with outrage from Queenstown Councillor Paula Walker who said: "The pagoda stands for peace, both environmentally and among people.

"Its presence is celebrated by all multi-faith groups and organisations such as CND, in the struggle for world peace.

“It is humbly maintained by local monk, Reverend Nagase, who works tirelessly as its guardian, despite his growing years.

“The graffiti is a great sorrow and a mark of disrespect to his work and all that the Peace Pagoda stands for.”

The Peace Pagoda was a gift to London as a whole from Guruji, a close friend Mahatma Gandhi, in 1984.

Thankfully the graffiti was quickly cleaned by Wandsworth Council but MP for Battersea Marsha de Cordova added that she was disappointed someone would do it in the first place.

"It makes me very sad to see that someone would think damaging this beautiful symbol to human solidarity with graffiti was an acceptable thing to do," she added.

"I’m sure the council will act quickly to restore the Peace Pagoda to its original glory and hope that whoever is responsible for the damage is made to really consider the impact of their actions.”