Queen Victoria statue in Geelong is beheaded and daubed with the words ‘the colony can fall’ in latest attack on historic monuments

A statue of Queen Victoria has been beheaded in the latest in a series of attacks on historic monuments in Australia honoring British historical figures.

The statue in Geelong was cut down with an angle grinder early on Thursday morning, with the words ‘the colony may fall’ daubed in red paint on the base.

It follows similar attacks on several monuments to Captain James Cook in Melbourne and Sydney.

Former Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the protesters were destroying public property, which was intended to recognize the “tremendous” contributions Queen Victoria has made.

A slogan saying ‘the colony may fall’ was spray-painted on the plinth containing the statue of Queen Victoria (pictured)

“These imbeciles come along who clearly have no understanding of our history… You don’t destroy history, if you do then you start down the path of dictatorship and anarchy,” said the chairman of the Australian Monarchist League Campaign Committee on the radio. 3AW.

The statue, which had stood in East Geelong’s Eastern Park since 1912, was found on the ground by passers-by on Thursday morning as protesters filmed their crime and posted it online.

The red paint reading ‘the colony may fall’ covered the words ‘Victoria, Queen and Empress, 1837-1901’.

The pedestal also bore the words ‘an empire on which the sun never sets’.

Senior Constable Andrew Wallers told the Geelong Advertiser the demonstrators went up to the statue and ‘driven away, we think one bolt’.

“It seems they have managed to shake it off and overthrow it,” he added.

The police are looking for camera footage and dashcam footage to find out who is responsible.

After statues of Captain Cook were targeted, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said: ‘It’s important, as people think about how to express their views – we have the right to express our views – to make sure there is respect for public property.

‘And also to remember that someone has to come and clean up after this kind of vandalism.

‘That’s not the way to get your message across. There are much more effective ways to do that, and that is to do it peacefully and respectfully.”

A debate is underway over the fate of a Captain Cook monument that was vandalized at the Rowe Street entrance to Edinburgh Garden in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, on January 27.

Yarra City councilor Stephen Jolly said replacing the statue would be a “waste of money” and it would almost certainly be taken down again.

“Even people who love Captain Cook, who love Australia Day, will see that fixing a statue that costs thousands of pounds to fix is ​​not the most important thing to spend money on.

‘Residents want better waste processing, more childcare, cheaper swimming pools.

“All of these things are a better way to spend the money than on a statue that we know for sure will be taken down again,” he said.

In Sydney, a mayor called for the demolition of a recently vandalized statue of Captain Cook, saying it is a symbol of “colonial oppression.”

On February 15, the 114-year-old statue in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was hacked for the second time in four years.

Randwick Council said it ‘condemned all acts of vandalism and had hired heritage stonework specialists to ‘repair’ the monument.

A statue of Captain Cook was sawn off and vandalized in St Kilda, Melbourne, 24 hours before Australia Day

Vandals sawed off a statue at Cook’s Cottage in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens (pictured)

But Greens mayor Philipa Veitch said it was her “strong personal view” that statues such as that of Captain Cook “should be taken down and removed from our public spaces”.

“They symbolize and remind us of colonial oppression,” she told the newspaper Southern Courier.

“The statue should be removed out of respect for the residents affected and for those who want to take tangible steps toward truth-telling and true reconciliation.”

The mayor said it would be “more appropriate” if the statue were donated to the Maritime Museum.

Local police are investigating after the 114-year-old statue (pictured) in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was hacked for the second time in four years on February 15