The statue of Captain James Cook, in the Catani Gardens St Kilda, was the victim of Australia Day vandalism in the early hours of January 25, 2024. The statue was sawn off at the ankles, discarded on the grass and the plinth was graffitied. The Police are investigating.
The statue was made in England by John Tweed, from the same cast as the statue installed in the town of Whitby in England, where Yorkshire born Cook lived for nine years from the age of seventeen. The pedestal and the bronze plaques were made in Victoria. Andrew Stenhouse, a local businessman who lived just opposite the Gardens on Beaconsfield Parade, donated £500 towards the cost of the statue and this was supplemented by other donations. The statue was unveiled on December 1, 1914.
The vandalism was a disrespectful act towards the statue of a man who came from a humble background and became one of the greatest explorers in history, though had never set foot on what would become Victoria, and whose life ended in 1779 in a brutal Hawaiian altercation, where he was buried at sea.
The Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allen, has been quoted as saying We'll be working with council to repair and reinstate the statue in St Kilda.
Two days after the statue was vandalised, a monument to Captain Cook in the Edinburgh Gardens in North Fitzroy was also toppled and graffitied. The Police are also investigating this incident.
UPDATE - In February 2025 the Captain Cook Statue was restored.
- Melbourne Statues of Queen Victoria and Captain Cook vandalised on Australia Day eve https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-25/melbourne-captain-cook-queen-victoria-statues-vandalised/103386996
- Patrols ramp up across Melbourne after Captain Cook statue desecrated https://www.9news.com.au/national/st-kilda-vandals-cut-captain-cook-statue-from-base-in-melbourne/e3ff8847-c7ba-4fe1-9106-6bbe1e78bf3b
- Carlo Catani, Andrew Stenhouse and Captain Cook's statue in St Kilda https://carlocatani.blogspot.com/2019/09/carlo-catani-andrew-stenhouse-and.html
- Captain Cook Society https://www.captaincooksociety.com/
- Captain Cook monument toppled in Edinburgh Gardens https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-28/captain-cook-monument-toppled-edinburgh-garden/103398688
