A RACIST banner was briefly hung from the wall of one of York's most-loved landmarks.

On Sunday afternoon (August 7) a small group of people were seen on the new rooftop at Clifford's Tower in Tower Street in York unfurling a gigantic banner with the words White Lives Matter emblazed on it.

One reader, who did not want to be named said: "We were near Clifford's Tower at about 2pm on Sunday and a group were flying this banner off the roof.

"I presume it wasn't sanctioned as security staff chased them soon after they brought it down."

A spokesperson for Clifford’s Tower said: “A banner was hung from Clifford’s Tower on Sunday for approximately five minutes before it was removed.”

White Lives Matter is a white supremacist phrase that originated in early 2015. It became popular with white supremacists as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which began as a way to protest police brutality against the Black community in America.