The city of Melbourne in Australia will not replace a damaged monument dedicated to British explorer James Cook, according to a local mayor, due to concerns it will likely be vandalised once more.
The granite-and-bronze memorial, located in southeastern Australia, has been a popular target for vandals, who demolished it last year and inscribed “cook the colony” on its surface.
In 2020, it was also defaced with spray-painted messages, including “shame” and “destroy white supremacy.”
Stephen Jolly, the Mayor of Yarra City in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, stated that the monument would not be restored as it would likely be “damaged again.”
“It would be ongoing. How can we justify that?”
Earlier this year, vandals splashed red paint on another statue of Mr. Cook in the lead-up to Australia Day.
Statues of colonial figures like Mr. Cook are often targeted by vandals to highlight the struggles of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
In 1770, Mr. Cook sailed into Botany Bay and claimed eastern Australia for Britain under the doctrine of “terra nullius,” effectively disregarding tens of thousands of years of Indigenous history.
