Melbourne ratepayers will be slugged more than $10,000 to clean a statue of King George V which was beheaded and covered in red paint in an attack by anti-colonial activists.
The background: Police were called to the King George V statue in Melbourne's Kings Domain on Monday morning after it was discovered that the statue had been beheaded and covered in red paint.
Other statues have been the target of vandals this year, including three of Captain James Cook, all in Melbourne.
Melbourne City Council deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece said the vandalism was an "act of violence" and vowed the statue would be restored
The key quote: "The clean up alone is about $10,000 and that's before we get to the cost of repairing and reinstating the statue — this is ratepayers' money we're talking about here." — Melbourne City Council deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece.
What else to know: Victoria, and most other states in Australia, held a public holiday on Monday to observe King Charles' birthday.
What happens now: The council will consider adding additional contextual information around the colonisation of Australia to the restored statue and installing CCTV cameras to discourage vandalism.
READ MORE: Bid to keep statute of skull-stealing premier fails hours after it was cut down
