Activist fathers held at gunpoint

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A support crew of four were also held as the memorial was evacuated by US authorities.

British activists Jolly Stanesby and Mike Downes organised and performed the protest, with support by US colleagues on the ground, a Fathers 4 Justice spokesman said.

Stanesby and Downes scaled the Lincoln Memorial at about 1.30pm (6.30pm BST) dressed as tourists on Friday. The spokesman said the men were being held in US custody in Washington and could be deported or placed on trial.

Matt O'Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice, said: "Yet again Fathers 4 Justice in the UK has led the way with an audacious protest to raise the global profile of fatherlessness and the social catastrophe it is causing in first world countries.

"This is our response to the inaction of the US authorities. There will be many, many more to follow. None of this, however, would have been possible without the outstanding support of our colleagues in the US."

The protest marks the start of the Fathers 4 Justice campaign in the US, a group spokesman said. It plans to run its first national awareness campaign in the US during the presidential elections.

Stanesby and Downes unveiled Captain America and Batman costumes after scaling the memorial and unfurled a white banner.

Stanesby, was from Ivybridge, Devon, and Downes, was from the Manchester area, Mr O'Connor said. Both have been involved in previous protests in Britain.

In November 2004 both men, dressed as Father Christmas, caused the closure of the Severn Bridge as they spent more than five hours on the gantry over the bridge that links England to Wales.