A war memorial in a small country town in Victoria has been defaced by far-left extremists who graffitied it with anti-Australian slogans.
The vandals wrote “death to Australia”, “death to the ADF”, and “blood on your hands” on plaques bearing the names of men from Beaufort, about 150km west of Melbourne, who died in the First and Second World Wars.
The graffiti was removed by council staff on Monday, but the incident has sparked fury in the town of 1,700 people and has been reported to police.
Mayor Damien Ferrari said the monument, where the town’s Anzac Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies are held, was a sacred place for local residents.
“The graffiti on war memorial at Beaufort Memorial Park has deeply upset our community. This site stands as place of remembrance, respect and reflection, and the damage caused does not reflect the values of the Shire,” Mr Ferrari told The Pyrenees Advocate.
“We strongly condemn this act and will work to restore the memorial as quickly as possible.”
Beaufort RSL sub-branch president Donald Carnes said the town was “disgusted” by the act of far-left vandalism.
“There’s a lot of people who didn’t come back after the First World War and the Second World War. We remember those people on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day,” he said.
“This doesn’t happen in Beaufort, not in the last hundred years.
“Who would do it? It’s not just children, its grown adults, coming at the ADF, children wouldn’t know much about the Australian Defence Force, and I think everybody will be disgusted.”
The attack came just days after a thief stole a bronze slouch hat and rifle from a brand new Anzac memorial in Melbourne.
There have been dozens of similar incidents carried out by far-left extremists around Australia in recent years, mainly preceding Australia Day and Anzac Day, and most taking place in Melbourne.
Few arrests have been made, but two women named Edith Pope and Charlie Tidmarsh were arrested and charged over an alleged attack on April 25 this year where Melbourne RSL clubs were spraypainted with the slogans “f*ck the Anzacs” and “kill the troops”.
Header image: Left, right, the defaced monument (The Pyrenees Advocate).
