Anti-racism campaigners in Glasgow have placed plaques with alternative street names on buildings in the city to protest roads currently named after merchants in the slave trade.

Plaques have been erected on some of the city's most famous and popular streets, including Buchanan Street and Cochrane Street, suggesting they be changed to George Floyd Street and Sheku Bayoh Street respectively.

It comes after our sister paper the Glasgow Times highlighted a minister-backed campaign to change some street names in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon urges Scots not to gather for mass Black Lives Matter protests

Protests have been staged across the US and other parts in the world in the wake of the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, in police custody.

The Herald:

Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer held him down by pressing a knee into his neck in Minneapolis on May 25.

Ivan McKee, Glasgow Provan MSP and Scottish Government minister for Trade says Glasgow can and should make a statement, and suggested the city could rename a street after Floyd.

Several streets including Buchanan Street, Ingram Street, Glassford Street and others like Jamaica Street and Virginia Street celebrate the merchants and the places were traders made their wealth.

Now, anonymous campaigners have attached signs to buildings on these streets with alternatives.

READ MORE: Street section near White House renamed Black Lives Matter plaza as protesters paint enormous tribute

One of the city's most famous streets, Buchanan Street, is named after Andrew Buchanan, who was a tobacco trader and whose family owned slave plantations in Virginia. Campaigners believe this street should be renamed 'George Floyd Street'.

Cochrane Street, which runs through the city's George Square, has had 'Sheku Bayoh Street' pinned underneath its current name plaque.

The Herald:

Sheku Bayoh died in 2015 aged 32 after being restrained by officers responding to a call in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and family believes race played a part in his death.

Ingram Street has been dubbed 'Harriet Tubman Street', recognising an American abolitionist and activist who escaped slavery and thereafter rescued around 70 enslaved people through what is known as the 'Underground Railroad'.

The Herald:

Glassford Street in Merchant City, which is named after Tobacco Lord and plantation owner John Glassford, has had 'Fred Hampton Street' placed as an alternative.

Fred Hampton was an American activist who chairman of the Illinois Black Panthers and murdered in his sleep by Chicago police in 1969.

READ MORE: Calls for 'George Floyd Street' and Glasgow slave names to be changed

Thousands of people have signed a petition to rename the city's streets.

The change.org petition calls for streets including Glassford, Ingram and Buchanan Street to be renamed in order to “take these tobacco lords off the pedestal they seemingly stand on and instead recognise other Scottish activists who are deserving of such esteem.”