A Captain Cook statue has been vandalised ahead of Australia Day celebrations.
The monument in St Kilda, Melbourne’s southeast, was splattered with pink paint and spray painted with the Aboriginal flag and the words ‘no pride’.
Melbourne residents vented their fury after waking up to the vandalism on Thursday morning.
‘Not winning anybody over by pointlessly vandalising a monument,’ one man said.
The Captain Cook statue in St Kilda, Melbourne’s southeast, was splattered with pink paint and spray painted with the Aboriginal flag and the words ‘no pride’
‘Burning the flag and spitting on Australia just instils further contempt.’
‘Pathetic,’ another critic said.
Council workers were called in to remove the vandalism.
The vandal has not yet been identified.
The statue was built to commemorate Captain James Cook, a British explorer who made the first recorded European contact with Australia’s east coast on January 26, 1770.
Council workers were called in to remove the vandalism (pink paint and Aboriginal flag pictured). The vandal has not yet been identified
The statue was built to commemorate Captain James Cook, a British explorer who made the first recorded European contact with Australia’s east coast on January 26, 1770
The date later became known, and celebrated as Australia Day.
For many Aboriginal Australians, Captain Cook’s landing in Australia represented the loss of Indigenous culture – and was informally named ‘Invasion Day’.
Members of the Aboriginal community loudly campaigned for the date of Australia Day to be moved, with the first protest held in Sydney in 1988.
‘Invasion Day’ groups continue their protest this year, with rallies planned in cities across Australia on Friday.
The vandalism happened one day before the celebration of Australia Day, which has come to be known as ‘Invasion Day’ to some Australians