Statue of George V beheaded in Melbourne by vandals
A statue of King George V has been beheaded by vandals in Melbourne, who dedicated the attack to King Charles.
A video of the decapitation, soundtracked with the Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen, was posted online along with the message: “Happy Birthday Motherf-----.”
Victoria, and other Australian, states commemorated the official birthday of Charles III on Monday with public holidays.
The statue was sprayed with red paint and the words “the colony will fall” – a message that has been daubed on other colonial-era statues that have been vandalised in recent months.
A 50-second video of the attack was posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, by a group that calls itself WACA, or the Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance.
As the Sex Pistols song plays, an activist wearing a head torch uses a power tool to decapitate the statue of the late British monarch, who reigned from 1910 to 1936.
A man sprays the words “the colony will fall” on the stone plinth beneath the statue.
As the camera pans to the severed head on the ground, the words “Happy Birthday Motherf-----” appear.
King Charles was born on Nov 14, 1948, but his official birthday is celebrated in June to take advantage of better weather in Britain.
In Australia, most states and territories celebrate on the second Monday in June, which in the southern hemisphere is the start of winter.
There are two exceptions: Western Australia usually commemorates the holiday on the fourth Monday of September or the first Monday of October, while Queensland marks the date on the first Monday of October.
The statue, erected in 1952 and paid for in part by public donations, is located in Kings Domain in central Melbourne.
“The incident was reported to Victoria Police and the council has covered the damaged statue while we assess the next steps,” said a spokesman for City of Melbourne Council.
Police are investigating the attack.
The statue is the latest symbol of British colonialism to be vandalised by campaigners.
Last month, activists in Hobart, Tasmania, toppled the statue of a colonial governor who exhumed the body of an Aboriginal man for scientific study.
The bronze statue of William Crowther, which has stood in a square in the centre of the city since 1889, was sawn off at the ankles.
In March, a statue of Queen Victoria in a park in Geelong in Victoria was toppled by vandals.
Activists sprayed the words “the colony can fall” on the stone plinth on which the statue stood, prompting one former politician to brand them “imbeciles”.
In January, a statue of Captain Cook in a park in St Kilda in Melbourne was sawn off at the ankles.
A statue of Queen Victoria, located near the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, was sprayed with red paint.
