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Protesters cause “millions of forints” of damage to Parliament and ruin Christmas for needy children

Protesters sprayed monuments with paint, damaged statues and dismantled the fence around the nation’s Christmas tree in Kossuth Square, constructed of sledges meant to be donated to needy children

The ruling Fidesz party has announced that the damage caused to Parliament and adjacent Kossuth Square in recent protests adds up to “millions of forints”.

Zoltán Szilágyi said they had no exact figure because the damage was still being assessed, but said two stained glass and several plain windows had been smashed, the stairs to the main entrance had been sprayed with paint, while the bronze lion figures and candelabra on either side of the entrance were tainted with paint and eggs.

“Parliament’s wall also has innumerable spots of paint or eggs, as well as burn marks,” he said, adding that “the mast of the flag of the nation was also spray-painted”.

Szilágyi added that the protesters had dismantled the fence around the nation’s Christmas tree in Kossuth Square, constructed of sleds meant to be given to needy children, 22 sleds were missing and the tree’s lights were damaged.