A beloved Anzac memorial statue in Queensland has been damaged in a shocking attack by anti-Australian extremists, upsetting locals who are now calling for it to be treated as a hate crime.
Ipswich City Council shared a photo of the desecrated Ebbw Vale War Memorial, which is a life-sized statue of a digger, showing the head and one arm removed, saying it was used to dealing with graffiti and illegal dumping, but this was “different level”.
The council said it had reported the attack to police, and was working to repair the monument, which was erected in 2018, relocated in 1972, and re-carved after a previous vandalism attack.
An inscription on the monument reads: “Erected by the residents of Ebbw Vale to show their appreciation to our gallant soldiers on their return and to honour those who fell.”
The post sparked anger from local residents, who said monument vandals should be treated more harshly by the justice system.
“Vandalism of war memorials should be classed as hate crime and have BIG consequences,” wrote one Aussie.
“Police won’t do anything. If it was a veteran to arrest however, they would invite news crews,” said another.
“The magistrate will give the precious little angels a slap on the wrist and don’t do it again. This is the society people have voted for over the last 50 odd years.
Won’t change until the vote changes,” said a third.
Australia’s largest Anglo-Celtic advocacy group, the British Australian Community, which is running an ongoing monument protection campaign, also spoke out about the incident on their social media channels and criticised the authorities for their inaction despite dozens of similar attacks in recent years.
“A memorial erected by the residents of Ebbw Vale to show their appreciation for the gallant soldiers on their return, and to honour those who fell, has been violently desecrated,” the BAC wrote.
“The nation-forming people, British-descended Australians, are the only group in Australia consistently subjected to attacks on their heritage with little to no action taken.”
Header image: Left, the damaged statue (Ipswich City Council). Right, the statue in before it was vandalised (Monument Australia).
