Police investigating anti-women graffiti spray-painted on northwest London overpass

Violent misogynist graffiti spray-painted on a northwest London overpass Tuesday is being condemned by women's advocates and was quickly erased by city staff on Wednesday morning.

London police have opened an investigation into who wrote "Kill women" and "Females should be hung" on the concrete barriers along Fanshawe Park Road overlooking the Medway Valley, just east of Wonderland Road. "F**ck you wh**re" was also written.

"It's disgusting. It's violent. It's hateful," said Jessie Rodger, the head of Anova, who advocates against gender-based violence.

"We need to find out who wrote these things. Violence against women, violence against queer folks, is very real in our community. It's very present."

London police were told about the graffiti, written in red spray paint, shortly after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The hate crime unit is investigating, a spokesperson said.

"It's very important for everybody to take this very seriously and for folks to follow through on making sure we find out who did this," Rodger said. "This contributes to a culture of rape and sexual assault and violence toward others."