Antimonarchist vandals have burned the decapitated head of a King George V statue that has been missing since last year in a protest on Australia Day, new footage has revealed.
A new video posted by different activist groups Down Under showed the head on fire as it was placed on a barbecue.
The activists – Disrupt Wars, Whistleblowers, Activists and Communities Alliance (WACA) and a member of Combat Wombat – a political hip-hop group in Australia, were all tagged in a post published on January 26, with the caption: “Cooking with king. Hot tips for roasting” It also included the hashtags #invasionday #notourking #cooking #cookingwithlove.
The statue, located in the Kings Domain on Linlithgow Avenue, Melbourne, was vandalised in June last year in an apparent attack on King Charles, whose birthday was celebrated in Australia at the time.
Australia marks the King’s official birthday every second Monday in June.
A video uploaded online at the time showed the shocking attack where vandals beheaded the statue and covered it in red pain with the soundtrack of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols. The head had been missing since then.
According to the Daily Mail Australia, a spokesperson for Disrupt Wars said the video was sent to the group anonymously.
It included the message: “We will BBQ a monarch every year on January 26 until Australia (Day) is abolished #NotMyKing the colony will fall.”
Last year, police in Australia announced that the statue’s head had been removed and that red paint had been thrown at it.
Meanwhile, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Nick Reece, said: “The damage to the King George V statue was extensive, and it is not a simple restoration. Ways to restore this statue are still being investigated.”
He added: “When a monument is damaged, we engage specialists to restore them and lend our support to Victoria Police – valuable council resources that could be better used to deliver for our community.”
The headless statue of King George V still remains in Kings Domain.
It follows a recent spate of attacks around Victoria, including one in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens.
