A statue of King George V has been beheaded and covered in red paint in Melbourne’s CBD in the latest attack on colonial monuments in Victoria.
Police were called to the King George V statue in Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue, near the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, just after 9am on Monday.
Vandals lobbed the head off a statue of King George V in Melbourne early on Monday morning.Credit: Rachael Ward/AAP
Victoria and most other states in Australia held a public holiday on Monday to observe King Charles III’s birthday.
“It appears the head of the statue has been removed and red paint thrown at the monument,” a police spokesman said in a statement.
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Other statues have been the target of vandals this year, including a statue of Captain James Cook that was cut at the ankles before it toppled in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne on February 27.
Another Captain Cook statue at St Kilda’s Jacka Boulevard was also sawn off at the ankles the day before Australia Day. At an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne on Australia Day, protesters cheered when a speaker mentioned that the Captain Cook statue had been damaged.
That same day, a statue of Queen Victoria at Queen Victoria Gardens near the city was covered in red paint and graffiti.
A second monument to Captain Cook at Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy was found broken and covered in graffiti over the Australia Day long weekend.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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