Gnomes mystery deepens

Gno joy for council as figures set focus for acts of civil dissent

GNOME-LAND security is under threat on the Bellarine Peninsula, with the kitsch characters being removed in a mysterious bonsai burglary along Point Lonsdale’s shopping strip.

Anonymous pottery planters ensured all roads led to gnome over the weekend with reported sightings not only in Point Lonsdale, but also near the Queenscliff tourist railway line and the main road leading into the two towns.

The pint-sized pantomime started last week when the Borough of Queenscliffe seized and removed the pintsized funsters from one of the roundabouts in Point Lonsdale’s main street.

In justifying the removal of the gnomes, a borough spokeswoman said the transient tourist attractions were an “inappropriate use of a public roadway”.

Responding to council in the spirit of Braveheart, one gnome feature depicted William Wallace from Mel Gibson’s 1995 film with an accompanying statement that read: “They may take our gnomes but they’ll never take our freedom.”

However, by yesterday morning, “mini-Mel” had been taken from his bijou Bannockburn, with questions raised on social media as to whether it was council officers or independent anti-gnome forces behind the removal.

Falk Davis wrote on Facebook: “I’m thinking about a refugee-style camp ... for gnomes seeking sanctuary from the oppressive regime,” to which Yvonne Marie replied: “They’d possibly send them to Manus (Island).”

Shannon Parker-Alexander wrote: “Are we sure it’s the council confiscating the gnome folk? Could there not be some sort of counter-prankster in town?”

In a succinct post, Mandy Howard summed up the feeling of many by simply stating: “GNNNNNNNNNNNNNN NNNo!!”

While some Point Lonsdale retailers said the matter was nothing to write gnome about, one shopkeeper said the matter had become a pocket-sized putsch against the council.

“I think people are getting on the gnome bandwagon as an act of civil disobedience,” the store owner said.