THE decapitated head of a King George V statue in Australia has seemingly reappeared during a Kneecap gig in Australia.
A social media post by the hip hop trio Kneecap, known for their Irish republican views and use of Gaelic lyrics, showed what appeared to be the solid bronze severed head of King George V during their Melbourne gig last week.
The statue, which is homed in the King’s Domain parklands, was beheaded during the King’s Birthday Weekend in June last year.
It was reported by local media that the statue was decapitated as part of a series of anti-colonial acts of protest targeting British monarch memorials in Melbourne.
Kneecap band members Mo Chara, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai, shared a picture on their social media of them performing with what appears to be the missing head.
“Well well a chairde Gael [my Irish friends]! Some madman dropped by with a huge King George’s head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show!” the post on social media read.
“Allegedly his head was cut off last year in the city..…anyways he was put on stage for a few tunes and then whisked away…remember every colony can fall.”
According to local reports Victoria police have been searching for the head since June, when it was removed from the 2.7m high solid bronze statue of King George V.
In Melbourne, a statue of John Batman, founder of the country’s second-largest city who was involved in the killing of Aboriginal people, was also found sawed in half.
Meanwhile, in Canberra, the words “The colony is falling” were graffitied on a statue of King George V.
A statement from Melbourne police regarding Kneecap’s concert said: “Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives continue to investigate damage to a statue in Kings Domain last year.
“Investigators are also aware that the head from what appears to be a statue appeared at a concert in Melbourne on 14 March. Detectives will investigate whether there is any link between the two incidents.”
