By Dongyun Kwon
Ahead of one of the significant days for servicemen, a local war memorial was found vandalised once again.
It was on Thursday 7 November when a Lilydale RSL member found Coldstream and Yering War Memorial was damaged, located at the intersection between Maroondah Highway and Melba Highway in Coldstream.
The wording on the memorial was dragged off.
“A gardener went out there to do a little bit of tidying up for Remembrance Day and found some damage, and then he rang our secretary,” Lilydale RSL president Bill Dobson said.
“[The War Memorial] represents so many people who have given their lives to defend Australia.
“I regard it as someone desecrating somebody’s grave.”
This was not the first time an act of vandalism on a war memorial was found in Yarra Ranges.
In recent times, the Mafeking Tree in Lilydale (Anglo-Boer War Memorial), Lilydale War Memorial, Lillydale Lake Militia Camp Storyboard, Seville War Memorial, Mt Evelyn War Memorial, Montrose War Memorial and the Mooroolbark War Memorial in the Evelyn electorate alone have been targeted and sometimes on multiple occasions.
Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence said it was awful to find another vandalism again.
“A local sacred war memorial has been attacked just before we commemorate the end of the First World War on Remembrance Day,” she said.
“The recent damage done to the Coldstream and Yering War Memorial is despicable.
“An attack on any war memorial is an attack on Australian values and the heroic legacy of our veterans. It is deeply troubling that after repeated attacks on war memorials across the Yarra Ranges, including in Montrose, Lilydale, Seville, Mt Evelyn, and now Coldstream, the Allan Government has failed to respond to the need for much tougher penalties for this disgraceful vandalism.”
The local MP has been pushing the Victorian Government to implement stricter penalties upon people who desecrate war memorials following years of targeted attacks in the electorate.
Ms Vallence said war memorials have been defaced and vandalised just prior to Anzac Day and Remembrance Day too many times, causing considerable hurt and pain to war veterans and their families.
“These attacks demonstrate that the current penalties are insufficient to effectively deter this appalling conduct,” she said.
“That is why I have been campaigning and calling on the Allan Labor Government to introduce a specific offence in relation to the desecration of war memorials, carrying a 15-year jail term.
“New Soules Wales, Tasmania and the United Kingdom Parliaments have all introduced this offence in recent years in order to protect these sacred sites and there is no reason why we should not do the same in Victoria.”
Ms Vallence promised to keep fighting to protect local war memorials until the positive change is achieved.
“Regrettably, the Labor Government has shown no regard for this important issue, with the Attorney-General advising me the government will continue to monitor the current laws which allow for a three-month penalty,” she said.
“I don’t know what further evidence the government needs. How many more war memorials need to be attacked and vandalised before the government will take action?
“I won’t stop fighting to protect our sacred war memorials until we achieve positive change and stronger laws to send these criminals to jail. We will remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend and protect freedom and democracy.”
Yarra Ranges Council helped the repairs of the War Memorial after being notified.
The council checked it again on Monday morning and confirmed the War Memorial was still in good condition.
