New Zealand's Prime Minister, William Ferguson Massey, Photo: Wikipedia
An appeal for information has been made after an attack on a controversial former prime minister's memorial statue in Wellington.
The attack on the Massey Memorial at Point Halswell, which commemorates William Ferguson Massey, was "harder to fathom' because it is also a grave site, Manatū Taonga/Ministry of Culture and Heritage said in a statement on Monday.
The Memorial is the burial ground for Massey and his wife Christina.
Massey was New Zealand's Prime Minister from 1912-1925. A motive for the attack, believed to have taken place last week, has yet to be established.
The bronze bust of Massey's statue was covered with paint and parts of the marble dome shattered into cracks and loose fragments.
"This act of vandalism is completely unacceptable," Pou Mataaho o Te Hua deputy chief executive delivery at the ministry Glenis Philip-Barbara said.
"This site is not only a memorial but a gravesite, which makes this even harder to fathom."
The ministry said "damaged areas of the memorial" would remain closed to the public until repairs had been made.
Police were notified of the vandalism.
Public donations contributed a third of the cost of the memorial, a clear signal of community support for the establishment of memorial at the time, Philip-Barbara said.
"We have informed Massey's descendants about the damage to the memorial and will keep them updated," Philip-Barbara said.
"In the meantime, if members of the public know anything about this vandalism, please reach out to the police.
"We are appealing for information about the vandalism. If you or anyone you know have any information you believe could be helpful as evidence, please contact the Wellington Police - quote reference number 230323/8402."
The ministry is responsible for caring for the memorial under the Massey Burial Ground Act 1925.
Massey, New Zealand's second longest serving prime minister, has had racist comments attributed to him in the past.
In 2016, calls where made to change the name of Massey University after it was found Massey called New Zealand a "white man's country", the purest Anglo-Saxon population in the British Empire, and that he stated did not like the "Chinese race".