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A Captain Cook monument in Melbourne has been cut at the ankles and toppled off its stone base ahead of Australia Day.
Police believe vandals chopped off the statue at the ankles and left it on the pavement on Jacka Boulevard in St Kilda about 3.30am.
The words "the colony will fall" were left on the statue by the vandals.
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It's not the first time the statue has been defaced. In 2022, red paint was thrown across the statue over three consecutive days.
The statue was also defaced previously in 2020 and 2018.
City of Port Phillip councillor Marcus Pearl labelled the act as "disheartening".
"This is not a solitary act of mischief. It's a repeated pattern of disrespect, especially evident around Australia Day for the past six years. Such acts blatantly disregard our community's hard-fought principles of debate and democratic expression," he said in a statement.
"Our community's strength lies in its ability to engage in respectful and open discussions.
"Let's channel this incident into driving constructive, inclusive conversations rather than allowing it to fuel division."
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Pearl said the vandals must be held to account for their actions.
Police are investigating the criminal damage and said several people were seen loitering in the area around the time of the incident.
