The Met said officers were called a 4.15am to reports that a man had climbed the scaffolding at the front of the building and was hammering the Prospero and Ariel statue.
The statue, carved by Eric Gill, has been on display since 1933 but campaigners have called for its removal as the sculptor recorded sexually abusing his daughters in his diaries.
As of 7am, the man was seen leaning against the scaffolding while wearing a Spiderman mask.
A statement from the Met Police read: “It has not been possible to safely detain the man given the circumstances of the incident, including the height. Specialist officers have been called to the scene.”
Last year, another man scaled the scaffolding to damage the statue.
Due to the damage, reconstruction work began in January to repair the Grade II listed statue.
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