3rd Statue of Colonial Explorer Cut Down in Melbourne

The remnants of a Captain Cook statue in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 25, 2024. AAP Image/Diego Fedele

A group of activists have toppled another statue of Captain James Cook in Melbourne amidst a spate of attacks on the British explorer’s memorial.

According to CCTV footage provided to the police by the City of Melbourne, four people were seen cutting down the statue at 3.45 a.m. on Feb. 26.

A video posted to social media by an anonymous activist account also showed a person sawing one of the statue’s ankles, making it fall to the ground.

The council is examining the damage to the statue to see if it can be repaired.

Captain Cook is a renowned explorer who charted and claimed the eastern coast of Australia for Britain on his first voyage between 1768 and 1771.

This is the third time a memorial bearing the name of the explorer has been vandalised by activists.

It comes after a Captain Cook statue in St Kilda’s Jacka Boulevard was cut at the ankles and defaced on Jan. 25. The monument was sprayed with the words “the colony will fall” in bright red paint.

A statue of Queen Victoria was also been defaced with red paint on the same day. The message “the colony will fall” was also graffitied on the statue.

Following the vandals, Port Phillip Council said it would repair and reinstate the century-old statue of Captain Cook.

“Last night our Council reaffirmed its commitment to continuing with the repair and reinstatement of the Captain Cook statue vandalised in St Kilda on 25 January,” independent Port Phillip Council Mayor Heather Cunsolo said on Feb. 8.

“We are united as a Council in sending a very clear message to vandals that they do not dictate which cultural public assets are allowed to stand in our city.”

In another incident, activists toppled a Captain Cook stone monument at Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North over the Australia Day long weekend, and spray-painted with the words “cook the colony.”

The repeated attacks led a Yarra city council officer to suggest removing the statue permanently due to serious damage.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said people needed to respect public property and the state government would work with the council if it chose to reinstate the statue.

“That’s not a way to get your message across, there’s much more effective ways to do that,” she told reporters.

“That is through doing it peacefully and respectfully.”

Monica O’Shea and AAP contributed to this report.