Far-left anti-Australian extremists have defaced an Anzac war memorial in Melbourne just a day after two other monuments were targeted in the lead-up to Australia Day.
The cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial, which was opened in 1919, was covered in red paint, sprayed with graffiti reading “stolen land” and “land back”, and a nearby plaque defaced with the words “lest we forget the Frontier Wars”.
The attack came after similar slogans and pro-Palestine symbols were painted on the Separation Monument in Flagstaff Gardens, and the nearby 155-year-old Pioneer Statue smashed to pieces after being pulled down by machinery, while a monument to English explorer Charles Grimes was destroyed earlier this month.
Ash Graham, President of the Montmorency Eltham RSL, made a statement condemning the latest attack, calling it an act of “desecration”.
Our cenotaph is not a political billboard. It is a sacred place of remembrance, bearing the names of local men who served their country, many of whom never came home. To vandalise it is to show contempt not just for history, but for loving families, veterans, and our entire community,” he wrote on social media.
“Acts like this do nothing to advance reconciliation or understanding. They inflame division, harden attitudes, and dishonour the memory of those who made extraordinary sacrifices so that others could live in peace and freedom, including the freedom to express dissent lawfully and respectfully.
“If you are brave enough to hold a view, be brave enough to express it without hiding behind vandalism and disrespect. As we approach Australia Day, we are reminded that our nation’s story is complex, contested, and still unfolding. But it is also built on service, sacrifice, and community.
“The names on this cenotaph tell that story in the most personal and human way possible. We will clean this up. We will remember. And we will not allow acts of division to diminish the respect owed to those who served. Lest we forget.”
The far-left extremists who destroyed two colonial monuments in Melbourne yesterday have released a propaganda video boasting about their crimes.
It includes the lines “kill all colonisers” and “death to the White race”.
Will they be declared a hate group? pic.twitter.com/mwACPecnOH
— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) January 23, 2026
The perpetrators of the Flagstaff Gardens attack shared a video on Friday boasting about their crimes in which they stated “kill all colonisers” and “death to the White race”.
No arrests have been made over any of the 2026 incidents, nor over a spate of almost identical attacks that have occurred in the lead-up to Australia day in 2025 and 2024.
Header image: Left, right, the damaged cenotaph (Montmorency Eltham RSL).
