LONDON (AP) - Police say a man has been charged with allegedly spraying paint on a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that was hanging in Westminster Abbey.

Tim Haries is due to appear in a London court on Friday charged with criminal damage over 5,000 pounds (S$9,817).

The 41-year-old was arrested at the abbey on Thursday after a portrait of the monarch by Australian artist Ralph Heimans was defaced with paint.

The dads' rights group Fathers 4 Justice said Haries was a member and had painted the word "help" on the 9-foot by 11-foot (2.5m by 3.4m) canvas.

Heimans' portrait, which depicts the queen on the spot in the abbey where she was crowned, was commissioned last year to mark the monarch's 60 years on the throne.