Tourists were evacuated from Liberty Island in New York Harbour after a woman climbed up on to the Statue of Liberty and sat on the monument's base.

Police took the woman into custody after three hours of trying to coax her down via a ladder that had been secured to the statue's pedestal.

Eyewitnesses posted images and footage on social media showing the woman scaling the structure on Wednesday.

Earlier, several people were arrested after holding a protest at the statue.

The protesters were detained after unveiling an "Abolish Ice" banner on the statue's pedestal, referring to the government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement body, the agency responsible for identifying and removing undocumented immigrants throughout the United States.

National Park Service police and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) were later called to the scene shortly after reports of an individual climbing the monument.

One eyewitness, Eric Kwasi Oppongto, posted a short video of the incident on Twitter which he said involved an individual with a T-shirt emblazoned with "Trump care makes me sick" and "Rise and Resist".

Guy climbing statue of liberty @CNN #July4th #FourthofJuly pic.twitter.com/bJA5rMexKg

— eric kwasi oppong (@ekojnr) July 4, 2018

Another user, Sarah, said the island was being "evacuated of all tourists".

It is not yet clear exactly who the woman is and why she scaled the structure.

Rise and Resist, which organised the earlier demonstration involving the Abolish Ice slogan, said on Twitter the woman was not connected with their activist group.

Demonstrations have recently taken place across the country after it emerged that Ice agents had separated thousands of young children from parents who had entered the US illegally.

Wednesday's incidents took place on the US independence holiday 4 July.

In February last year, protesters hung a giant "Refugees Welcome" banner across the Liberty statue's observation deck.

Attaching items to the national monument, a symbol of American acceptance of immigrants, is strictly prohibited, according to the state's National Park Service police.