Another Captain Cook monument has been vandalized and its stone plinth toppled, just two days after Australia Day protesters attacked other city monuments.
Captain Cook’s plaque, which stood at the Rowe Street entrance to Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, was pushed to the ground on Sunday morning.
Visitors to the park were confronted with the words “Cook the Colony” spray-painted in red on the fallen stone plinth.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia an investigation into the vandalism was ongoing.
The Captain Cook plaque, located at the Rowe Street entrance to Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, was toppled by vandals who spray-painted ‘Cook the Colony’ on the base
‘The police are aware damage to a plaque in Edinburgh Gardens on Alfred Crescent in North Fitzroy.
‘The plaque has been pushed over and sprayed with red paint.
‘It has yet to be determined when the damage occurred and the investigation is ongoing.’
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
It comes after a 110-year-old Captain Cook statue in St Kilda’s Catani Gardens was cut at the ankle and defaced just hours before Australia Day.
The bronze statue in St Kilda’s Catani Gardens was cut from its stone base shortly before 3.30am on Thursday.
Vandals painted “the colony will fall” in red on the memorial base and had the statue cut off at the ankles, face down in the grass.
Australia Day, celebrated every year on January 26, marks the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 when the first Governor of the British colony Arthur Philip hoisted the Union Jack at Sydney Cove.
But for many First Nations people, the date is considered “Invasion Day” or the “Day of Mourning.”
Thousands of people attended Invasion Day rallies in the country’s major cities on Friday to protest the national holiday.
It comes just two days after a 110-year-old Captain Cook statue in St Kilda’s Catani Gardens was cut at the ankles and defaced
The 117-year-old monument in Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne’s CBD was also splashed with red paint
The Captain Cook statue has been frequently targeted by vandals in recent years.
Red paint was thrown over the statue for three consecutive days in 2022 as part of an Australia Day protest and was previously vandalized in 2020 and 2018.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a 117-year-old monument in Queen Victoria Gardens in Melbourne’s CBD was also splashed with red paint on Thursday morning.
The same message, ‘the colony will fall’, was scrawled on the bottom of Queen Victoria’s statue, leaving a major clean-up job for the workers.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said the vandalism of the statues had “no place in our community”.
“We will work with the council to repair and restore the statue in St Kilda,” she said.
The police have launched a number of investigations to track down the perpetrators of the incidents.