OFF WITH HIS HEAD

King George V Statue Decapitated on Charles’ Birthday Holiday

An online video showing the severed head included an obscene birthday message to the monarch.

A statue of King George V in Australia was found decapitated and covered in red paint Monday as much of the country observed a public holiday for King Charles III’s birthday. Police were called to the site of the headless sculpture in the Kings Domain area of Melbourne shortly after 9 a.m., according to The Age. A video shared on social media set to the Sex Pistols’ anti-monarchy anthem “God Save the Queen” appears to show someone using a power tool to decapitate the statue under the cover of darkness before the monument is covered with red paint and the phrase: “THE COLONY WILL FALL.” A still image later in the clip shows the head on the ground along with the caption: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHERFUCKER.” “We’ve been sent a birthday greeting for his majesty,” one account sharing the video wrote in an Instagram caption, along with hashtags including “#landback” and “#freepalestine.” King George V, who reigned from 1910 until 1936, is Charles’ great-grandfather.