Vandals have defaced two historic monuments ahead of Australia Day despite efforts to protect against targeted attacks.
"Death to 'Australia'" was spray-painted on one of the two statues targeted between Wednesday night and Thursday morning at Melbourne's oldest park, Flagstaff Gardens.
Heavy machinery was used to tear down the Pioneer monument, erected in 1871, before the badly-damaged ruins were vandalised, police believe.
The five-metre tall, sandstone obelisk marks the city's first burial site.
The nearby Separation Memorial, erected in 1950 to commemorate the founding of the Victorian colony a century earlier, was similarly defaced.
"(It's) absolutely despicable," Melbourne's Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece told reporters outside St Paul's Cathedral on Thursday afternoon.
The attack occurred despite cameras and fences being installed to protect statues and monuments in the lead up to Australia Day.
Mr Reece described the vandals as "absolute idiots," adding they failed to understand the historic significance of the monuments they targeted.
"They are genuinely dumb," he said.
"We are up for a debate about the future of statues and memorials in Melbourne ... but tearing them down, acts of vandalism, that will not be accepted."
Similar vandalism offences have occurred in the lead-up to Australia Day in recent years, often targeting sites dedicated to the city's colonial past.
In 2025, vandals toppled a statue of Captain Cook at the entrance of Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North during the January long weekend.
The City of Yarra voted to scrap the statue in May 2025 due to the high cost of its upkeep, given it was repeatedly targeted by vandals.
Mr Reece said the price of repairing the Flagstaff Gardens monuments was not yet clear, but insisted they would be reinstated.
"We cannot tolerate this behaviour, we cannot reward this behaviour," he said.
Mr Reece said some of the words and symbols may constitute a hate crime under Victoria's anti-vilification laws and noted the timing of the incident, which coincides with the national day of mourning for the Bondi Beach terror attack victims.
Groups who continue to commit these crimes must face the full force of the law, Premier Jacinta Allan said.
"What a disgrace," she said.
"Even on a day about love and unity, these people can't help but introduce hate and destruction."
The area has been cordoned off as police investigate.
