BENGALURU: The crown of the iconic Queen Victoria’s statue at Queen’s Circle in the city has been damaged. The statue was installed in 1906.
Heritage Beku, which first raised an alarm, in its X post said, “We are deeply shocked to find the crown missing from the statue. We’ve informed the authorities, including the BBMP commissioner and the Cubbon Park ASI. We hope it’s not a case of vandalism, and that the crown is returned and restored.”
Dr Umesh, president of Cubbon Park Walkers’ Association, said, “This statue has been here since 1906. It is one of the few such monuments in the world. It is a revered part of our heritage. The crown could not have fallen accidentally. It is clear that vandals attempted to destroy this historic monument,” he said, adding that the police have access to CCTV cameras in the area and it won’t be easy to get away with this crime.
Priya Chetty Rajagopal from Heritage Beku said, “It seems, the crown has been forcibly removed. It was broken into three pieces, which the Horticulture Department has recovered. The authorities have been quick to act. Deputy director of horticulture Kusuma and BBMP chief engineer Prahlad have initiated action to repair the damaged crown.”
Meanwhile, DCP (Central) Shekhar H Tekkanavar said, “We’ve investigated and ruled out mischief. The crown fell accidentally, possibly when someone attempted to garland the statue.”
However, experts are not happy with his explanation.
It may be recalled that just two weeks earlier the former Siddaganga Pontiff, Sri Shivakumara swamiji statue was vandalised in Girinagar. However, the police managed to track down the culprit and arrested him.