A distinctive statue in the middle of Miners Rest has been helped back to its feet after vandals toppled it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
'Moo', a statue commemorating a popular cow in the district to the north-west of Ballarat, was found lying on its sides having been wrenched from its anchors.
A post on the Committee for Miners Rest Facebook page on Saturday morning highlighted the damage.
By Sunday morning, the structure had been placed upright again, but its anchors remained unsecured to the side.
The Lions club worked very hard to get Moo in place for the community and she has been damaged numerous times.Makes you wonder why many go to the effort to create nice things for you.
- Committee for Miners Rest
"It must be a product of a growing community, but that was particularly disappointing," Werner Oellering, the secretary for the Committee for Miners Rest, told The Courier.
"It's stood back up but she hasn't been properly fixed."
Mr Oellering said there had been stolen cars, as well as a break-in in the area recently - although he did suggest the vandalism and those crimes were not necessarily linked.
"We seem to have had a bit of a spate of this sort of thing at the moment," he said.
ALSO IN THE NEWS
The initial Committee for Miners Rest Facebook post read: "The Lions club worked very hard to get Moo in place for the community and she has been damaged numerous times."
"Makes you wonder why many go to the effort to create nice things for us."
It is not the first time vandals have been active in the area. Last June, graffiti was sprayed on the nearby war memorial, and the same statue was also tagged on both sides.
Property near the park was damaged at the time.
The statue was donated by the Lions Club in Miners Rest in memory of a cow who lived in the park "and was adored by all", according to the plaque alongside it.
The club was forced to permanently close mid way through last year due to decreasing membership. Organisers cited work at the cenotaph and the park, including the commemoration to Moo, as among their achievements since they had been operating in the area.
Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.