Yarra City Council has determined not to return the Captain Cook Memorial to Fitzroy’s Edinburgh Gardens, citing the Memorial’s condition, structural integrity and ongoing costs associated with vandalism.

Instead, the Memorial will be shelved while Council explores an appropriate institution to receive and take ownership of it, including an offer from the Captain Cook Society.

City of Yarra Mayor, Stephen Jolly said the decsion was simply a “boring economic issue”.

“I’m not in favour of demolishing statues of people in the past, even problematic ones, but don’t think if we put it back up, it wouldn’t be just damaged again. It would be ongoing – how can we justify that?” he said.

As a result of the latest act of vandalism on 28 January last year, the Memorial was removed from its location due to public safety concerns. A subsequent condition report with repair options and costings estimated that it would cost $15,000 to repair and reinstate the Memorial.

The Memorial's return to the site was likely to create a risk of ongoing vandalism. While bearing the significant costs of mitigation such as additional lighting or surveillance was explored, it was believed such measures would only operate as a deterrent.