text: Excrement thrown at the statue of British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes has triggered a wave of protests across South Africa against 'racist' historical figures. Memorials to South Africa's colonial past were defaced by mainly young black protesters as statues of British monarchs Queen Victoria and King George V were splashed with paint in the cities of Port Elizabeth and Durban respectively. Vandals poured paint over Scottish-South African missionary Andrew Murray's statue in the Western Cape. War memorials were also defaced. A bronze rider marking the Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902, was toppled from his horse. Object of anger: This statue of Queen Victoria outside the Port Elizabeth city library in South Africa is among a number of memorials to British colonials that have been vandalised during protests against 'racist' figures . A statue of a British soldier lays on the ground after being broken off its base in Port Elizabeth, South Africa . The defaced statue of British mining magnate and politician, Cecil John Rhodes, is lifted by a crane, from its position at the University of Cape Town (left), while (right) a chair marks the spot on the plinth where the decades old bronze statue stood before it was vandalised . In the latest demonstration, vandals smeared paint the figure of a young Mohandas Gandhi. Standing in the square in downtown Johannesburg named for Mahatma Gandhi, the memorial marks the Indian anti-colonial leader's time in South Africa, where he formulated the principle of passive resistance. The protester, who smudged white paint on Gandhi's cloak, accused him of being racist during his time in the country. Founding fathers of Afrikaner nationalism were also targeted. In Pretoria, the memorial of 19th century Afrikaner leader Paul Kruger was twice daubed with bright green paint, while the statue of Marthinus Pretorius, who founded the capital city, was splashed with reddish brown paint, according to local media reports. The statue of Louis Botha, the president of the South African Union in the early 1900s, was smeared with red and blue paint outside parliament in Cape Town on the same day that the Rhodes sculpture was removed from its perch overlooking the University of Cape Town after weeks of student protest. In the Free State province, a statue of Boer General Jan Fick was splashed with red paint in the town named after him in 1883, Ficksburg. Another statue is cleaned down after being splashed with green paint on Pretoria's Church Square . Security guards (left) walk past a statue of former South African statesman and Afrikaner leader Louis Botha, which has been defaced with red paint outside the South African parliament building in Cape Town . Several people have been arrested and local authorities have spent thousands of dollars cleaning up the statues. The opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, has come out in support of its members who have claimed responsibility for these acts of vandalism. It comes days after white solidarity groups held protests over the removal of a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the University of Cape Town after it was daubed with excrement. Members of the university council ordered that the bronze sculpture be removed after hearing its presence made black students feel uncomfortable and was seen a symbol of historical white oppression. The defaced statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes is tied by straps to a crane before its removal at the University of Cape Town. It follows weeks of protests at the university over the symbolism of the statue . The monument has been vandalised in recent weeks. It has not yet been decided where it will be moved . The government backed the move, with Sandile Memela, the spokesman for the arts and culture ministry, saying they are working to see if the country can take an 'official position' on statues and other colonial symbols. 'It marks a significant... shift where the country deals with its ugly past in a positive and constructive way', he said to press agency AFP, adding the government did not encourage the violent removal of statues. But the decision to move the monument of Rhodes – a 19th century imperialist who critics say helped pave the way for apartheid – has sparked protests in itself. The youth wing of white Afrikaner solidarity group AfriForum handed a memorandum to parliament in Cape Town to 'demand protection' for their heritage. The same statue was covered in plastic bags after protests by students and staff at the university in March . The university's council heard that black students felt uncomfortable because of the bronze monument . Politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes is called a 'racist' by his opponents. Born in 1853, he made his fortune in diamond mines, and entered into politics as an outspoken supporter of colonialism. He later founded Rhodesia - modern-day Zimbabwe - which was named after him. He believed England was the 'master race', and wanted to draw a 'red line' railway from Cairo to Cape Town for the British Empire - spanning the entire continent of Africa. While his supporters say he brought political and physical infrastructure to South Africa, others say his actions laid the groundwork for apartheid by restricting the rights of black Africans to work. While they are not recognised as supporters of Rhodes, statues of their heroes have been attacked during the university protests. A monument of former president Paul Kruger was splattered with paint, and Afrikaner men, some of them in quasi-military outfits, demonstrated next to it on Wednesday. 'The Afrikaner is -- from a historical perspective -- increasingly being portrayed as criminals and land thieves,' solidary group Afriforum said in a statement. 'If the heritage of the Afrikaner is not important to Government, our youth members will preserve our own heritage.' It has not been decided where the statue of Rhodes will end up, although it will likely be held in a museum. But as tension grow on campuses about the statues of historical South African figures, Jonathan Jansen – the first black vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State – denied that there was a race war coming. He wrote in South African newspaper The Times on Thursday: 'The reason is simple: the overwhelming majority of South Africans, black and white, believe in a middle path somewhere between reconciliation and social justice.' Cecil Rhodes, pictured on the right, in 1896 in Rhodesia with an unknown companion and a black manservant . People look the defaced statue of former South African president Paul Kruger in Church Square, Pretoria .
target: Tributes to South African colonial past defaced by young black protesters .
  Wave of protests triggered after statue of Cecil John Rhodes was defaced .