Captain Cook statue cut down on eve of Australia Day, vandals brazenly share footage

The Captain James Cook statue in St Kilda is set to be rebuilt after it was cut down and its plinth defaced. See the footage.

Statues of Captain James Cook and Queen Victoria will be rebuilt after they were vandalised on the eve of Australia Day.

The metal Captain Cook sculpture on Jacka Blvd, St Kilda, was cut from its stone base, with its plinth spray-painted with the words: “The colony will fall”.

Police say the statue was vandalised about 3.30am on Thursday.

Vandals filmed themselves in the act and then brazenly shared the footage, which was circulating on social media on Thursday.

THE COLONY WILL FALL.

CRYM has received this video from an anonymous source, with the following message.

This morning in Naarm, the Captain Cook statue was toppled and the Queen Victoria statue covered in blood.#AustraliaDay26Jan#CaptainCook#CRYMpic.twitter.com/cqfioGYLGq

— CRYM (@CRYM_Earth) January 25, 2024

The offenders used an angle grinder to take the statue down.

The statue, left by the vandals on the grass at the base of the plinth, was placed into the back of a truck and taken away.

A screenshot of the footage uploaded to social media of the Captain Cook statue being toppled. Picture: @CRYM_Earth

The statue was brought down by vandals at about 3.30am on Thursday. Picture: @CRYM_Earth

The sculpture on Jacka Blvd was cut from its stone base. Picture: @CRYM_Earth

Shattered glass was left at the base of the statue and one stone step was torn off.

The Queen Victoria Monument that stands on St Kilda Rd, near the Royal Botanical Gardens, was also sprayed with red paint.

The statue, unveiled on Empire Day in 1907, is more than 115 years old.

The video of the red paint doused on the Queen Victoria Monument included the phrase ‘if you fight back all will be liberated’. Picture: @CRYM_Earth

Cleaners were working to remove the red paint from the monument on Thursday morning.

City of Port Phillip councillor Marcus Pearl said the vandals “must be held to account for their actions”.

“This is not a solitary act of mischief. It’s a repeated pattern of disrespect, especially evident around Australia Day for the past six years,” he said.

The Captain Cook statue after it was cut down. Picture: David Crosling

Police believe the vandals struck about 3:30am. Picture: David Crosling

It’s believed an angle grinder was used to take down the statue. Picture: David Crosling

“Resorting to vandalism is not only condemnable but also undermines the constructive discourse we strive for. Such acts blatantly disregard our community’s hard-fought principles of debate and democratic expression.”

Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday said the St Kilda statue would be reinstated as soon as possible.

A second statue in Melbourne has been defaced overnight, 10 News First has learned.

The Queen Victoria statue in Queen Victoria Gardens - adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens - was covered in paint overnight, with staff on site this morning in a bid to clean the statue.

This… pic.twitter.com/kS9U2ohcMQ

— 10 News First Melbourne (@10NewsFirstMelb) January 24, 2024

The landmark statue has previously been targeted for Australia Day. Picture: David Crosling

“This sort of vandalism really has no place in our community and I want to signal today that we will be working with Council to repair and reinstate the statue in St Kilda that has been vandalised overnight,” she said.

The statue, estimated to cost $2,900, was unveiled in December 1914 and is thought to be the first major memorial to the British explorer in Victoria, according to the Captain Cook Society.

The sculpture was doused in red paint during an Australia Day protest in 2022.

Vandals also dumped pink paint on its head, scrawling “no pride” on its plinth in 2018, on the eve of Australia Day.

The sculpture was doused in red paint during an Australia Day protest in 2022. Picture: Tony Gough

The Catani Gardens statue has attracted unwanted attention in recent years. Picture: Getty