Captain James Cook statue cut down by masked vandals in Melbourne

A video has surfaced online of a group vandalising a sculpture of the British explorer, as CCTV capturing four alleged offenders is handed into police.

CCTV on site captured four unknown people cutting down the statue. Picture: Instagram

Police are hunting masked vandals who damaged a bronze Captain James Cook statue in East Melbourne.

The offenders rounded on Fitzroy Gardens in inner-city Wellington Parade between 5pm on Sunday and 7am on Monday to remove the statue of the British explorer from its base.

Video of the stunt surfaced online from an Instagram account belonging to the Civil Resistance Youth Movement (CRYM).

“Rumour has it that this was the last remaining Cook statue in the city. Monuments such as this only serve to prop up the narrative that enables so-called Australia’s continuing theft and desecration of land and life, and to legitimise its ongoing violence,” the post read.

CCTV on site captured four unknown people cutting down the statue. Picture: Instagram

“This narrative is as hollow as a monument to a long dead coloniser who met his just fate, being speared by first nations warriors in Hawaii.”

The message, which the social media account said came from an anonymous poster, claimed the words “the colony will fall” were painted beside the fallen statue, located close to historical Cooks’ Cottage.

“The legacy of the imposter Australian empire is slowly but surely crumbling around us, piece by piece – brick by brick – statue by statue.”

The video also included text saying “there’s plenty more statues … all it takes is some friends, a grinder & a good plan”.

CRYM, pronounced “crime”, describes itself as a network of ­resistance against colonial exploitation and says its goals are to grow and spread radical politics and defy the state.

Police are investigating the incident and say ‘criminal damage’ has been done to the statue. Picture: Instagram

Victoria Police confirmed it was investigating the incident on Tuesday and urged witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers.

“It is understood the statue was damaged, causing it to fall to the ground,” police said.

The City of Melbourne will ­assess the damage and consider if the statue can be repaired.

It is understood there is CCTV footage at the site that captured four offenders cutting down the statue about 3.45am on Monday.

Police are investigating after the Captain Cook statue at Cooks Cottage was removed from its pedestal. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

According to the council’s website, the life-size statue was crafted by Marc Clark and originally unveiled in 1974 to launch the Endeavour Hills housing estate.

It was later donated to the City of Melbourne for display near Cook’s Cottage and was installed in 1997.

The statue is the latest to be targeted by vandals, with another James Cook sculpture sawn off in St Kilda and a Queen Victoria statue spray-painted red on Australia Day eve.