Three Memorial plaques stolen from Caulfield Park

Three plaques, of historic significance, were stolen from Caulfield Park on Good Friday (April 3, 2026). This report comes from the Facebook post of Robert Littlewood (1).

These war memorials were vandalised, removed and stolen on Good Friday: Just in time for ANZAC Day

Beer-Sheba Israel Memorial
The Beer-Sheba Israel Memorial features a plaque that faces Hawthorn Road. Unveiled on 25 April 1995, it commemorates the Light Horse Charge of Beer-Sheba in 1917, during World War I. This was the last triumphant cavalry charge in world history. (2)

The Beer-Sheba Israel Memorial, 2015

Image: https://dossier48.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/caulfield-park-memorials/

The Beer-Sheba Israel Memorial, April 2026

Image: https://www.facebook.com/robert.littlewood.39

Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Plaque
The Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Plaque commemorates the planting of a tree (directly behind the plaque) in honour of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved 100,000 Jewish lives in Hungary during World War II.

Raoul Wallenberg Memorial Plaque, April 2026

Image: https://www.facebook.com/robert.littlewood.39

Memorial Stone
Adjacent to the new Lone Pine, the Memorial Stone lists the names of 298 people from the Caulfield district who died in World War I. In 2015, we moved the stone from near the rose garden to its current position on the site of the former conservatory, in front of the new Lone Pine.

The Caulfield World War One Memorial, 2015

Image: https://dossier48.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/caulfield-park-memorials/

The Caulfield World War One Memorial, April 2026

Image: https://www.facebook.com/robert.littlewood.39

Coming only a few weeks before ANZAC Day, this is an insult to the memory of those Australians who fought and died in the Great War and to the millions of Jewish people murdered in World War Two.  Even worse, it is likely they were just stolen for their scrap value.

Contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au, if you have any information on this atrocious act of vandalism. 

Footnotes

(1) Robert Littlewood's report is the first I can find on the incident. It was posted on his Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/robert.littlewood.39 on 5/4/2026. However, his description of the monuments comes from the City of Glen Eira website here https://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/our-city/history-and-heritage/our-monuments-and-sites/war-memorials

(2) The Beer-Sheba charge took place of October 31, 1917 and you can read more about it here 

https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-charge-of-the-4th-light-horse-brigade-at-beersheba  There was a later Cavalry Charge  in World War One, at the Battle of Haifa on September 23, 1918, when Indian and British troops captured the city of Haifa from the Ottoman Army. You can read about this here https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/battle-of-haifa-1918-a-saga-of-indian-valour/

Sources

• Robert Littlewood Facebook https://www.facebook.com/robert.littlewood.39 
• Dossier 48 website - https://dossier48.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/caulfield-park-memorials/
• Channel 7 interview with Dvir Abramovich on the theft of the plaques - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEQJ5vCVcVM

Lost or missing sculptures of Glen Eira

 Lost or missing sculptures of Glen Eira by Carol Stals 

Originally published in the Glen Eira Historical Society Newsletter Number 11, November 2016  and used with permission.

Glen Eira seems to have mystery surrounding some of their sculptures.

One sculpture was the work Kore by Karl Duldig which was unfortunately stolen from its base in the Elsternwick Shopping Centre in 2013 [from outside the Post Office in Staniland Grove]. It was quite a few days before the disappearance was noticed.  The police have not been able to trace it. [A duplicate sculpture was commissioned by the neighbouring City of Stonnington and installed in Central Park, Malvern East in 2016.]

Kore by Karl Duldig

https://www.duldig.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Karl-Duldig-Public-Works-of-Art.pdf

Another work, Isabella, was created in memory of Isabella Webb, the 19 year old daughter of Judge George Webb of Crotonhurst.  She died in India in 1876 while on a trip with her father. 

Historian Dr Geulah Solomon notes: “The marble sculpture of Isabella, which Webb subsequently had cast by Charles Summers, the sculptor of the famous statue of Burke and Wills, now stands in the Caulfield City Hall" (1)  

In 1981, the Caulfield Historical Society had a brass plaque made and placed on the statue in Caulfield Town Hall (2). 

A third piece of sculpture was the bronze statue of a small child kneeling.  It was a drinking fountain made for the Railway Reserve beside Elsternwick Station then shifted to Greenmeadows Gardens.  This was designed and executed by Paul Montford, creator of the Adam Lindsay Gordon piece, plus major works on the Shrine of Remembrance.  It seems to have disappeared many years ago

What a strange history of three valuable sculptures disappearing.  Does anybody remember Isabella or the Kneeling Child?  Do you know the answer?

Footnotes -
1. G Solomon, Caulfield's heritage, volume 1 Caulfield's building heritage, City of Caulfield 1989, page 36.
2.  Caulfield Historical Society Newsletter 18, August 1981, page 64.

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More information:

Kore - https://www.stonnington.vic.gov.au/Community/Arts-and-culture/Public-art-collection/Kor%C3%A9 

Crotonhurst - https://victoriaspast.blogspot.com/2021/01/mr-justice-george-webb-of-croton-hurst.html

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