Following the vandalism of multiple prime ministerial busts in the Ballarat Botanic Gardens, one community member has suggested a wait and see approach with what to do next in order to protect the monuments.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
President of the Friends of the Ballarat Botanic Gardens Rob Selkirk said he believes the incident was a one off act of defiance, suggesting the statues at this point should not be fenced off from the public.
"It's a difficult situation to manage," he said.
"You think about closing the access off which is not really an option. The ideal situation is to have them available and exposed to the public. While that might solve the problem, I don't think it's a good response. I don't think we're at the point where restricting access is necessary."
This comes after the vandalised statues were fenced off from the public on Sunday.
OTHER NEWS:
Mr Selkirk pointed the finger at Black Lives Matter protesters, suggesting vandals from outside of Ballarat could have traveled to the region specifically to deface John Howard's and Tony Abbott's busts.
"Right now I think it's just a couple of bad apples, potentially leftovers from the Black Lives Matter march in Melbourne who may have gotten the train up to Ballarat, done the damage and got the train home.
"It's obviously political... I don't see any connection between the pair of statues defaced and the Black Lives Matter issues."
He said he hopes the incident was simply a one-off act, adding there should be excitement as Malcolm Turnbull's bust is due to be installed later this year.
"We want to do what is best and will benefit the public most," he continued.
"Hopefully this was just a one-off incident. Malcolm Turnbull's statue will be there later in the year, it's being made at the moment. We just need to take a step back, watch what happens next and make a decision on the future then."
Police and City of Ballarat staff are investigating the latest damage and council staff have undergone cleaning works.
A police media spokesperson said the crime took place between midnight and 2.15am on Sunday morning. They said police were looking for witnesses.
The City of Ballarat was contacted to confirm whether any extra measures would be put in place to protect the statues, however failed to respond by time of publication.
