Captain Cook vandals ‘are criminals, not protesters’
Victoria Police are investigating an attempt to decapitate a Captain Cook statue in Melbourne, saying those responsible will be treated as ‘criminals, not protesters’.
Police are investigating an attempt to decapitate a Captain Cook statue in East Melbourne, saying those responsible will be treated as “criminals, not protesters”.
Police said a security patrol alerted officers to three people attempting to sever the head of the statue and using red paint on Captain Cook’s cottage in Fitzroy Gardens about 2am on Tuesday.
The statue was reinstalled just over two weeks ago after it was cut off at its feet in a similar protest in February last year, with the repairs costing $13,000.
The City of Port Phillip also repaired a Captain Cook statue in St Kilda last year, after it was toppled in the lead up to January 26.
Detective Inspector Martin McLean said the force did not view the act as a protest and said offenders will be caught if they don’t hand themselves in.
“The community has a pretty dim view on people who behave in this manner,” he said. “I don’t see them as protesters, I see them as criminals and that’s how we’ll deal with them.”
He said there had been a strong security presence at the sites given the number of similar acts in recent years, with new security measures being installed at Fitzroy Gardens. “It’s clearly a targeted attack,” he said.
CCTV footage shows three hooded figures using what police believe is an angle grinder in an attempt to cut the head off the statue before fleeing.
The statue was left with slash marks on its neck. The graffiti, which police described as “anti-Cook comments”, was removed swiftly by the council on Tuesday morning.
“I don’t believe they had enough time to be successful,” Inspector McLean said. “They come back at their own peril.”
The council condemned the act, saying taxpayers were the ones who ended up paying for the repairs.
“While there are a range of views on statues and memorials, each time a monument is damaged, it’s ultimately the ratepayer footing the bill,” lord mayor Nicholas Reece said.
The protest follows a similar act in Ballarat in January, where the heads from statues of Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd were severed and stolen.
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