Stationed in an unattractive patch of grass by a busy Auckland city street, this is a relatively standard early 20th-century monument dedicated to the memory of "imperial and colonial forces and the friendly Maoris" who died in the New Zealand wars. A major embellishment is the addition of a cast female figure — Zealandia, the once common personification of New Zealand — clutching a flag in her left hand and placing a palm frond on the statue in dedication with her right.

That statue has repeatedly defaced over the years. In 1981, the Zealandia figure was beheaded by anti-Tour protestors and more recently has been attacked with an axe by anticolonial activists and dumped with red paint. More mysteriously, the objects in Zealandia's left and right hands have repeatedly vanished: the frond draped by Zealandia onto the statue with her right hand was missing until replaced relatively recently, but on a recent both the frond and flag were gone.

Learn more

• Timespanner blog
• NZHistory.govt.nz
• NZ Herald column
• Photograph of beheaded statue - available offline only
• "Difficult History" clip