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Locals in Dorset furiously defended the Robert Baden-Powell statue in Poole Quay, following plans to remove it. Interviews on Sky News with local residents turned heated after many were left “livid” by the plans to remove the statue. Robert Baden-Powell, who died in 1941, is best known for founding the Scouts movement.

However, he has previously been criticised by campaigners who have accused him of racism, homophobia and support for Adolf Hitler.

One local defended Baden-Powell on Sky News: “There is a strong feeling here. We feel very strongly about this statue.

“It is here and in this position for a reason. He is facing the island, where the Scout movement was founded by Baden-Powell.”

Another man interrupted: “It should absolutely stay. I will fight you!

“It should not be moved. I will fight for him. There is nobody here against it.”

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Police officials feared that the statue was on “target list for attack” amid a growing movement to remove historical statues across the UK.

On Sunday, protesters at an anti-racism demonstration in Bristol tore down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it in the city’s harbour.

A statue of slaveholder Robert Milligan has also been removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands.

In Oxford thousands of people called for the removal of a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

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