According to reports, an Indian government-gifted life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.

According to SBS News, the incident occurred a day after Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the Consul General of India Raj Kumar, and other Australian leaders unveiled the statue at the Australian Indian Community Centre in Rowville on Friday.

Morrison, who condemned the act, told SBS News that he was devastated to learn of the vandalism and that attacks on cultural monuments would not be tolerated.

“This level of disrespect is disgraceful and extremely disappointing. Whoever is to blame for this should be ashamed of themselves, as they have shown great disrespect to the Australian-Indian community “Morrison continued.

Meanwhile, Vasan Srinivasan, chair of the Australia India Community Charitable Trust, said the offenders were attempting to cut off the head of the statute by grinding around it. With nearly 300,000 Indians living in Victoria, Srinivasan believes such an act would never be expected.

According to an ABC report, the Australian Indian Community Centre in Rowville is the first of its kind in Victoria, and it was built after three decades of effort by Surya Prakash Soni, president of the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria.

According to the ABC report, an unknown number of offenders used a tool to decapitate the statue between Friday and Saturday, with Knox Crime Investigation Unit detectives investigating the case and urging witnesses to come forward with any information.

In the United States, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in the Central Park of the City of Davis in Northern California in January of this year.

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