'Absolutely disgraceful': The statues vandalised over Australia Day weekend

Here is a list of the worst offences.

Twenty statues were vandalised at Prime Ministers Avenue in Ballarat Botanic Gardens in the early morning of January 23.

Sculptures of Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd were decapitated and the majority of others damaged.

The destruction will cost taxpayers around $140,000.

The gardens are no stranger to vandals.

In November 2024, the floral clock was damaged when its hands were broken.

"An absolute mess."

That's how Randwick City councillor Carolyn Martin described the vandalism of a statue of British explorer and naval captain James Cook on January 24.

It was the second time in less than a year the statue had been targeted.

Vandals cut off Cook's hand and nose and sprayed the statue with bright red paint.

A controversial monument honouring one of Melbourne's founding fathers was cut in half at Queen Victoria Market on January 25.

Unveiled in 1881, the monument to John Batman originally said the land was "then unoccupied", according to Melbourne City Council.

A plaque was added in 1992 specifying Aboriginal people had originally occupied the land with a second installed in 2004 to acknowledge the statue's inaccuracies.

A memorial to police killed in the line of duty was significantly damaged in the lead-up to Australia Day.

The words "evil", "dogs" and other markings were scratched into the Wall of Remembrance in the Domain.

NSW Premier Chris Minns labelled it "disgusting behaviour".

"To deface a memorial that commemorates police officers who have served the state, and those who have lost their lives whilst on duty is lower than low," he said.

Two ceremonial flags were stolen and vandals spray painted the words "the colony will fall" and "this land is stolen" at an outdoor stage in Ringwood on January 25.

Federal MP Michael Sukkar wrote on Facebook he was "disgusted and disappointed" by the vandalism.

A memorial to ANZAC soldiers in Parkville, in inner-city Melbourne, was covered in red paint in the early hours of January 25.

with Australian Associated Press