'Tiresome and predictable' - Stolen statue head of British King appears on stage at a Kneecap concert in Australia

National broadcaster ABC reported that the Northern Irish rappers are believed to have displayed the item at their gig last week.

DUP peer Lord Weir said the fact that the King George V statue “was vandalised and decapitated is a disgrace” and accused the group of “glorying” in criminal damage.

A TUV politician has criticised the group’s “mock anti-establishment” image – describing the incident as “predictable and tiresome”.

Police in the state of Victoria have said an investigation into the disappearance of the head is ongoing. It was removed from a statue in Melbourne's Kings Domain, in June 2024. Since then, it has appeared in various social media posts, being flushed down a toilet and being barbecued.

The group posted on Instagram “Some madman dropped by with a huge King George's head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show! Allegedly his head was cut off last year in the city … anyways he was put on stage for a few tunes and then whisked away … remember every colony can fall”, they said.

TUV vice chairman Causeway Councillor Allister Kyle said: “While Kneecap to glory in their mock anti-establishment image, the reality is that they went to court not so long ago to 15,000 British pounds - each one carrying the image of a decedent of George V.

“Their association with vandalised stolen property is part of an act which frankly is predictable and tiresome. There is nothing radical or edgy about a group whose every escapade is lapped up by the Guardian and the BBC.”

Lord Weir told the News Letter: “anyone involved in the vandalism should be prosecuted for criminal damage. Glorying in criminal damage under the guise of ‘art’ is just careless”.

In a statement to ABC, Victoria Police said an investigation into damage to the statue is ongoing.

“Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives continue to investigate damage to a statue in Kings Domain last year”, adding that “Investigators are also aware that the head from what appears to be a statue appeared at a concert in Melbourne on March 14”.

In a video posted on Instagram, Kneecap member Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) points at the head of the decapitated statue, which was placed on the stage. “Melbourne. This used to belong to the statue of King George. Allegedly it’s the first ever royal at a Kneecap gig”, he said.

His bandmate, DJ Próvaí (J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, a former teacher who usually appears in a tricolour flag balaclava) says “It’ll be the last”.