A statue of Captain Cook that was sawn off at the ankles by vandals in Melbourne on the eve of Australia Day will be reinstated within weeks.
The Port Phillip Council on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to repair and reinstate the statue that was vandalised at St Kilda's Jacka Boulevard in the early hours of January 25.
Photos posted to social media showed the body of the statue fallen on the grass below with "The colony will fall" written in red spray paint on the stone plinth underneath where the statue usually stands.
Port Phillip Mayor Heather Cunsolo said the statue's reinstatement will occur within two weeks in the same location as the council investigates ways to reduce the chances of future vandalism, including adding context to the statue.
"We are united as a council in sending a very clear message to vandals that they do not dictate which cultural public assets are allowed to stand in our city," Ms Cunsolo said in a statement.
An effort led by councillor Robbie Nyaguy to consult the community on whether another location would be appropriate for the statue to be reinstate was voted down.
"We need to have a proper an open conversation about our history," Cr Nyaguy told the Today Show.
"The only way we can move forward as a community is to have an open conversation ... about where we put statues, like Captain Cook, and the kind of context and information we put around them."
He described his fellow councillors' decision to reinstate the statue with no community consultation is not giving ratepayers a "democratic method" to have the conversation.
"If our response is to say, we're not going to have a conversation, we're not going to provide people with a democratic and legitimate way to answer these questions, then I fear the message we're sending is we're not going to be talking to you and go out there and do the wrong thing," he said.
The same statue was doused with red paint by protesters in January 2022 as an "Invasion Day" statement.
