Yet another statue of Captain James Cook has been destroyed in the wake of vandalism that destroyed another sculpture of the famous explorer in the run-up to Australia Day.
The bronze statue of the British explorer at the famous Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne’s east was sawed off underfoot at around 3.45am on Monday.
The words ‘the colony will fall’ are painted next to the spot where the statue once stood.
The work has since been placed in the custody of the City of Melbourne Council.
A council spokesman said CCTV footage allegedly showed four people had cut down the statue.
A separate video posted online by an anonymous account appears to show masked individuals using an angle grinder to destroy the statue before it falls to the ground.
A statue of Captain James Cook next to the famous Cook’s Cottage in Melbourne’s East (pictured)
The municipality has provided Victoria Police with the CCTV footage and is investigating whether the footage can be repaired.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said they were investigating “criminal damage” and urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
The images of anonymous activists were posted online by a group claiming that ‘the colony continues to fall’.
“Monuments like these only serve to support the narrative that enables the continued theft and desecration of land and life in so-called Australia, and to legitimize the ongoing violence,” the post reads.
“This story is as hollow as a monument to a long-dead colonizer who met his just fate when he was speared by First Nations warriors in Hawaii.
‘The words ‘the colony will fall’ are painted next to the fallen statue – because we know that the colony CAN, MUST and WILL fall.
‘The legacy of Australia’s deceitful empire is slowly but surely crumbling around us, piece by piece – brick by brick – frame by frame.’
The statue, sculpted by Marc Clark in 1973, was erected in 1997 on the site next to the cottage owned by Captain Cook’s parents in the English village of Great Ayton in the 18th century.
Despite never living in the house, Cook’s name was enough to have it brought piecemeal to Australia in 1934, where it has been a tourist attraction ever since.
The cottage itself was vandalized by graffiti activists in 2014 during an Australia Day protest.
Fluorescent spray paint was used to write slogans such as ’26th Jan Australia’s shame’, while a window was also smashed.
The vandals sawed off the statue just underfoot and left it on the ground, adding to the tourist attraction as visitors looked for a photo of the empty stand (pictured)
Images posted online appear to show a masked person dressed entirely in black using an angle grinder to saw the statue off the pedestal before it falls to the ground (photo)
It is the third time this year that a memorial to Captain Cook has been defaced in Melbourne.
A statue on Jacka Boulevard in St Kilda was also sawed off at the ankles the day before Australia Day.
The words “the colony will fall” were similarly written in red spray paint on a stone plinth below where the statue usually stands.
That same day, a statue of Queen Victoria in the Queen Victoria Gardens near the city was also covered in red paint and graffiti.
A second monument to Captain Cook in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy was found broken and covered in graffiti over the Australia Day long weekend.
Melbourne’s Port Phillip Council has pledged to restore and restore the monument in St Kilda, while no decision has yet been made on the future of the Edinburgh Gardens monument.
Other visitors arrived at the site wearing shirts depicting the statue of Captain Cook which had been sawed off at the ankles and similarly the phrase ‘the colony will fall’ had been spray-painted next to it.