Two female far-left extremists have been arrested over an alleged Anzac Day vandalism spree where vile anti-Australian slogans were sprayed on RSL clubs in Melbourne.
Victoria Police said the pair, 20 and 22, were seen allegedly graffitiing the walls of Heidelberg RSL at about 1.45am on Saturday and ran from the scene, but were chased down and arrested.
Police said they suspect the same women were behind another attack on Reservoir RSL just after midnight, and are investigating graffiti at an RSL in Fawkner that was discovered at 5am today.
The pair have both been charged with criminal damage, mark graffiti on property without consent and possess graffiti implement to mark graffiti, and were granted bail to appear court on May 19.
Images of the damage to Reservoir RSL shows slogans including “land back”, “death to the ADF”, “kill the troops”, “Gallopoli – do it again”, “death to ‘Australia'”, “vets = imperialist scum”, and “Anzacs = colonisers”.
One photo of the damage at Fawkner shows an upside down red triangle, a symbol used by pro-Palestine activists, painted on a memorial, while others show aboriginal flags and the slogans “land back” and “death to ADF” in red.
The attacks come after Port Melbourne’s Answering The Call war memorial statue and a nearby Centenary Bridge pylon were sprayed with far-left slogans on Thursday night or Friday morning.
Far-left extremists in Melbourne regularly desecrate and destroy monuments in the lead-up to Australia Day and Anzac Day, but arrests have been rare in recent years.
Opposition leader Jess Wilson promised earlier this week to bring in tougher penalties for war memorial vandals if her party win’s November’s state election.
“War memorials are sacred places of reflection that deserve to be properly protected,” Ms Wilson said.
“The increasing vandalism of war memorials and other cultural and historic sites is intolerable, and my Liberal and Nationals team has a plan to crack down on this disgraceful behaviour.”
Header image: Left, right, the graffiti attacks (Leanne Nicols, Fawkner Netball Club).
