The police have launched an investigation after a statue of Margaret Thatcher in Grantham was vandalised for the second time in as many weeks.

Red paint was thrown at the £300,000 sculpture and a red hammer and sickle, a communist symbol, was painted onto the fence surrounding it on Saturday night.

“This is being treated as criminal damage and an enquiry is ongoing,” Lincolnshire Police said on Sunday.

The statue was winched into place earlier this month in the Lincolnshire town where the former British prime minister was born in 1925. Within hours, eggs were lobbed at it by one onlooker, who was later fined £90.

As well as the precaution of installing a fence, a CCTV camera has been positioned opposite the 10-foot-high plinth to deter would-be vandals.

This came after reports shown to South Kesteven District Council suggested that the statue could be targeted by a “motivated far-left movement…who may be committed to public activism”.

Before the likeness of the first female British prime minister was installed, roughly 2,400 people visited a Facebook group which proposed an “egg throwing...and potentially graffiti art” at the unveiling.

Thatcher, who died in 2013 at the age of 87, has left a divisive legacy and is often criticised for closing coal mines in the 1980s, leading to the loss of thousands of jobs.

In a statement, South Kesteven District Council said it “understands the strength of feeling surrounding the memorial”, but “strongly condemns” anyone who attempts to damage public property.

The council added that it would assist the police with their investigation, and would share CCTV footage with the local force.

“The damage is being assessed and work is being planned to restore the memorial to its original condition,” it said.