Another iconic Paddington Bear statue has taken a ‘battering’ from vandals.
The iconic marmalade-eating bear has had its bench destroyed by yobs in Southampton and is now on the hunt for a new home.
It is the second time in recent memory that a Paddington statue has been the target of vandals after two RAF engineers ripped one apart in Newbury, Berkshire, in March 2025.
Thankfully, Southampton’s beloved version of the statue itself is safe and the incident has been reported to the police.
The figure is one of 23 Paddington statues that were unveiled across the country in October 2024 to celebrate the cinema release of Paddington in Peru.
Locals have reacted to the news online, with Facebook user Carla Matthews asking ‘why do people ruin everything?’
Another user, Sand Ray, said: ‘Why do people do this..so sad.’
Other Facebook users said whoever vandalised it was a ‘moron’, and suggested that CCTV should be installed in the area to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again.
The 42-inch-high statue depicts Paddington with his iconic red hat and blue overcoat holding a marmalade sandwich.
It sat on a bench near the Westquay shopping centre in Southampton, Hampshire.
Go! Southampton, the organisation which looks after the statue, said in a statement: ‘A sad day for Southampton.
‘Our beloved Paddington bench has taken a battering over the weekend in Guildhall Square. Good news, Paddington lives on!
‘Thank you to Mettricks for keeping him safe overnight and John Hansard Gallery for helping us clean up. He’s now taking refuge in our office, happily eating marmalade sandwiches.
‘The incident has been reported to the police, and we are working on a solution to get the bench repaired and finding him a new home.’
At the time of its unveiling, Southampton’s children’s mayor Freya Orendecki said: ‘It was such an honour to unveil the statue.
‘Paddington is so amazing and has some great adventures. I like how he’s sat there with his marmalade sandwich.
‘The joy of Paddington is that he is silly, funny, and always happy.
‘He always wants to make new friends and adventures, and every day is different.’
RAF engineers Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, both 23, admitted to destroying the Paddington statue in Newbury last year.
Sentencing, district judge Sam Goozee said the pair’s ‘actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for’ at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
They tore the front of the statue clean off while on a drunken night out at 2am on March 2, 2025.
The pair then took the statue back to RAF Odiham in a taxi, the judge said, and Thames Valley Police confirmed it had been listed on Facebook marketplace before cops recovered it from the boot of Lawrence’s car.
Jars of marmalade, sandwiches and poems were left at the scene by upset locals.
They were both handed a 12-month community order and were each to pay £2,725 to repair the damage.
The defendants’ defence lawyer, Tom Brymer, told the court they were ‘extremely ashamed about their actions’.
The statue was repaired and replaced in April last year.
