Two Queen Victoria monuments in Montreal were covered in green paint by vandals on Wednesday night, ahead of St Patrick’s Day.
A group calling itself the Delhi-Dublin Anti-Colonial Solidarity Brigade has taken responsibility for the act and has posted a video online of paint being tossed onto one of the statues.
The group is calling for the removal of the statues.
Statues in Victoria Square in old Montreal and on Sherbrooke Street near McGill University were vandalized, GlobalNews.CA reports. Both landmark monuments of the 19th century monarch are over 100 years old.
A statement released online by the Delhi-Dublin Anti-Colonial Solidarity Brigade said the “racist statues in Montreal are an insult to the self-determination and resistance struggles of oppressed peoples worldwide.”
They added that the monuments are especially an insult to the “legacy of revolt by Irish freedom fighters, and anti-colonial mutineers of British origin.”
One of two Queen Victoria statues vandalized in Mtl by a so-called Anti-Colonial brigade. They say the statues are racist and want them taken down. They painted them green in advance of St Patrick’s day, saying they are an insult to the Irish pic.twitter.com/GUh4JBXxvp
— Amanda Jelowicki (@JelowickiGlobal) March 15, 2018
The group claimed to be inspired by the vandalism last year of a statue of Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first prime minister, and encouraged others to take similar action against “racist” monuments.”
A statue in Victoria Square in Old Montreal and a statue on Sherbrooke Street near McGill University were vandalized, GlobalNews.CA reports. Both landmark monuments are over 100 years old.
Montreal police are investigating the incident.
The United Irish Societies in Montreal said they condemn any act of vandalism and that they hope for a peaceful St Patrick’s Day parade on Sunday.
Comments