Home Australia Iconic Melbourne statue is sawn in half and an Anzac memorial is splattered in red paint on the eve of Australia Day

Iconic Melbourne statue is sawn in half and an Anzac memorial is splattered in red paint on the eve of Australia Day

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The John Batman monument was destroyed in Melbourne's central business district early Saturday morning.

An Anzac monument in Melbourne was vandalized ahead of Australia Day, and a monument to the city’s founder was toppled and vandalized.

Victoria Police are investigating both incidents which occurred during the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Anzac Memorial on The Avenue in Parkville was covered in red paint and the monument to John Batman, the founder of Melbourne, was destroyed.

The Batman monument at Queen Victoria Market in the CBD appeared to have been torn from its base and in half in the attack at around 2.20am before being toppled and broken into several pieces on the ground.

The inscription on the monument said that Batman “entered Port Phillip Heads on 29 May 1835, as leader of an expedition he had organized at Launceston VDL to form a settlement and founded one on the site of Melbourne, then unoccupied”.

In recent years a plaque was added to recognize indigenous Australians.

‘The City of Melbourne recognizes that the historical events and perceptions to which this monument refers are inaccurate. “I apologize to the indigenous peoples and traditional owners of this land for past erroneous beliefs and personal distress caused,” the addendum said.

The Anzac statue bearing the inscription “we die for the country, live for it” was covered in red paint at around 3am. The words “land back” were painted on the statue.

The John Batman monument was destroyed in Melbourne’s financial district early Saturday morning.

The monument had an inscription that referred to Melbourne as

The monument had an inscription referring to Melbourne as “unoccupied” when the city was founded by John Batman in 1835.

Red paint was also smeared on an Anzac statue on The Avenue in Parkville along with the phrase

Red paint was also smeared over an Anzac statue on The Avenue in Parkville along with the phrase “land back” (the statue is pictured before it was vandalized).

The statue was erected in 1925 to honor area soldiers who fought in World War I.

Crews spent Saturday morning cleaning up both sites.

Elsewhere in the city, in Ringwood Lake Park, around 2 a.m., the words “the colony will fall” and “this land is stolen” were spray painted on a marquee used for citizenship ceremonies.

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact police.

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