Police are looking into the late-night vandalism that happened in Melbourne on Australia Day eve.
The anniversary of the First Fleet of Britain’s landing at Sydney Cove in 1788, which marked the beginning of the colonial era, is celebrated on January 26 as a holiday.
Vandals scrawled “The colony will fall” on the plinth surrounding the Cook statue.
The “criminal damage” to both memorials, according to the police, occurred early on Thursday morning.
“It is believed that the [Cook] statue had its ankles sawed off. Around the time of the incident, a number of people were observed lingering in the area,” Victoria Police said in statement.
The Cook expedition of 1768–1771, which mapped the east coast of the nation and cleared the way for the later decision to dispatch Captain Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet, is honored by the 1914 monument.
There is a history of vandalism on or around January 26th with this statue. It was painted red in 2022, and in 2018 an Aboriginal flag was placed next to it and the words “no pride” were spray-painted on it.
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Vandalism of both monuments, according to Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, has “no place in our community”.
She went on, “We’ll be working with council to repair and reinstate the statue in St Kilda,” alluding to the suburb in which it is situated.
Cleaning of the Queen Victoria memorial in the heart of the city is also underway.
Although she acknowledged the “diverse views surrounding Australia Day,” Port Phillip Mayor Heather Cunsolo stated that she could not support “the vandalism of a public asset where costs will ultimately be borne by ratepayers.”
The incident happened prior to the security guard that her council had scheduled to guard the Cook statue on Thursday, she said.
According to opinion polls, approximately 60% of Australians are in favor of celebrating Australia Day on January 26.
However, a lot of Indigenous Australians and other people feel that it is inappropriate to celebrate a day that stands for the appropriation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands and their cultural dislocation.
Protests against “Invasion Day” have gotten louder in recent years, and many people choose to skip the holiday.
