Captain Cook’s statue targeted again
First it was graffiti, then a rather severe nose-job, and now it’s a new hat – a statue of British coloniser Captain James Cook has borne the brunt of a fair amount of disdain in recent weeks.
The statue in Christchurch’s Victoria Square was vandalised twice last month, in what appeared to be politically motivated attacks.
In the first incident, on February 14 – the anniversary of Cook’s death in Hawaii in 1779 – the statue was tagged with red spray paint. That prompted Christchurch City Council to erect scaffolding to clean off the graffiti and do some maintenance.
But then a person – or persons – made use of the scaffolding to grind off Cook’s nose.
Over the weekend, a road cone was placed on his head. It has since been removed by council staff.
When asked if the statue should be taken down, Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said “definitely not”. “He is one of the first people that discovered New Zealand. Some people might not be happy with it, but that’s it.”
He later clarified he meant one of the first Europeans to discover New Zealand. The first people to arrive in New Zealand were ancestors of the Māori, thought to have arrived between the years 1200 and 1300.
The city council has spent between $15,000 and $25,000 repairing the statue.
A red cross daubed across Cook’s body and graffiti on the plinth from the first incident are still visible. The council said as much as possible had been removed without damaging ite, and it would fade over time. Mauger condemned the vandalism.
“Some people obviously have got a griev
ance. I think it is fine and it’s costing a shed load of money to repair it all the time,” he said.
“I think they should back off and just get on with life. There is more to life than doing things like that.”
Mauger also suggested that the more publicity the vandalism received, the more people would do it.