Four bronze plaques have been torn off a 102-year-old war memorial in Adelaide by suspected scrap metal thieves, leaving locals heartbroken and angry.
The Burnside District Fallen Soldier’s Memorial in Rose Park was targeted on Monday night, and authorities believe the incident was theft rather than anti-Australian vandalism, as no graffiti was left at the scene and the memorial was not otherwise damaged.
The bronze statue, which was cast in France, depicts a World War 1 digger going “over the top” and offering a helping hand to his mate, and the plaques bore the names of 88 fallen soldiers.
The City of Burnside council said four original plaques from 1924 commemorating World War 2, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans were stolen from the Helping Hand statue, while a fifth had been proactively removed for safekeeping.
The bronze plaques from my local war memorial have been stolen, presumably for their few hundred dollars’ melt value. LEE KUAN YEW NOW!!! https://t.co/75dmeB4BhU
— Hot Rails — oz/acc (@hot_rails) October 12, 2026
Mayor Anne Monceaux told ABC radio said the theft was “devastating for the whole community”, and that more needed to be done to protect war memorials.
“A hundred years ago this memorial was created to honour the fallen soldiers of World War I. We need to do something, as this is happening more and more, with people stealing parts to melt down for money,” she said.
Upset locals condemned the thieves on social media, with one man writing on X: “The bronze plaques from my local war memorial have been stolen, presumably for their few hundred dollars’ melt value. Lee Kuan Yew now!”
“They will make a dollar with your beautiful bronze plaque,” he said, referring to a famous passage from novel The Camp Of The Saints about illegal immigrants in France burning a beautiful oak door for warmth.
One local resident told Noticer News scrap metal merchants should be offered rewards for tip offs about suspected stolen items, such as valuable-looking bronzeware, large-diameter cables and new copper pipes, as “metal theft is a huge problem beyond the desecration of war memorials”.
“Probably the same people that stole the copper piping from Rose Park Primary School overnight,” a woman wrote on Facebook.
“Breaks my heart that historic monuments recognising our local men who died in the great wars have been desecrated,” said another.
South Australia Police are investigating.
Header image: Left, the statue after it was vandalised (Hot Rails). Right, before it was desecrated (City of Burnside).
