A century-old statue of Queen Victoria in Australia has been toppled by vandals, the latest in a spate of attacks against symbols of British colonialism.

The statue was pulled down in a park in Geelong in Victoria – the state that bears the name of the Queen and Empress of India, who reigned from 1837 until her death in 1901.

The bronze statue had stood in the city’s Eastern Park since 1912.

Vandals sprayed the words “the colony can fall” on the stone plinth on which the statue stood, prompting one former politician to brand them “imbeciles”.

Police believe the vandals used an angle grinder to cut at least one of the bolts that attached the statue to the plinth and then toppled it to the ground.

They are now checking CCTV to try to identify the culprits and appealing for dashcam footage from passing motorists.

Locals condemned the vandalism as sad and disrespectful, saying that it was unfair to judge Australia’s colonial past by the moral standards of the 21st century.

“What happened all those years ago by today’s standards is really wrong, but you can’t put today’s values back there,” a local woman told the Geelong Advertiser.

“We need to work out, how do we move forward together, but with respect for one another.”

Defaced with red paint

It is the second time the statue has been attacked this month – on March 1 it was defaced with red paint.

Eric Abetz, a former minister with the Liberal Party, condemned the stunt.

“These imbeciles come along, who clearly have no understanding of our history and seek to destroy and obliterate. You don’t obliterate history. If you do, that is when you start down the pathway of dictatorship and anarchy, something that Australians don’t want,” he told the radio station 3AW.

“What these vandals are doing is destroying public property, property that was erected by our forebears in recognition of the wonderful contribution that Queen Victoria made. She was outstanding.”

He said that Australians had voted against cutting ties with the British monarchy in a referendum in 1999 and that people who destroyed emblems of the monarchy were “entitled”.

The Australian government said in January that it had put on hold a proposal to hold a referendum on removing King Charles III as head of state, even though Anthony Albanese, the prime minister, is a staunch republican.

Matt Thistlethwaite, who is the country’s first minister whose job is dedicated to pushing the republican cause, said there was currently “no timeline” for holding such a vote, although the governing Labor Party still hopes to break with the monarchy in the long term.

Mr Abetz, who served as a senator for 28 years, insisted support for the monarchy remained strong and he did not foresee the country becoming a republic. “I have no doubt that should the people be asked again, they will say the system ain’t broke, there’s nothing to fix,” he said.

Sawn off at the ankles

In January, a statue of Captain Cook in a park in St Kilda in Melbourne was sawn off at the ankles and toppled.

A statue of Queen Victoria, located near the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, was sprayed with red paint.

Video footage of the attacks was posted on an anonymous Instagram account.

“Captain Cook was a murderer for British imperialism, Queen Victoria a director and overseer of genocide,” a message on the Instagram account read. “Colonialism will never be celebrated, only toppled. Listen up, act up, disrupt.”

Jacinta Allan, the premier of Victoria, said the vandalised statues would be repaired and cleaned. “This sort of vandalism has no place in our community,” she said.