A bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Australian Indian Community Centre in Rowville, Melbourne, has been stolen, triggering a police investigation and deep concern within the Indian-Australian community.
The incident has also drawn a strong response from New Delhi, with India formally taking up the matter with Australian authorities and urging immediate steps to recover the statue and identify those responsible.
Responding to media queries on February 3, 2026, Ministry of External Affairs Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “strongly condemns the vandalization and removal” of the Mahatma Gandhi statue by unidentified persons.
“We have strongly raised the matter with Australian authorities and urged them to take immediate action to recover the missing statue and hold the culprits accountable,” Jaiswal said.
Ministry of External Affairs Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on the bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi stolen at the Australian Indian Community Centre in Rowville, Melbourne, Australia.
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Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Feb 3, 2026
