Statues of Military Personnel in a Nation: Patterns of Attacks and Trends in Militaristic Characteristics

We aimed to conduct a nationwide survey of outdoor statues of military personnel in New Zealand (NZ), to describe patterns in attacks on these, and to assess trends in their militaristic features. A literature search followed by a field survey of the statues with detailed photographs taken. Documented attacks were analysed, as were trends in objective militaristic features of the statue (eg, number of weapons). A total of 118 outdoor statues of military personnel were identified, with 11 (9%) of these having been attacked. The highest identified risk for statue attack was if it represented a named strategic military leader, compared to all other statues, at 41% vs 4% risk of attack respectively (risk ratio [RR] = 6.81; 95%CI: 3.25 to 14.3; p=0.00005). Another risk factor was the statue being linked to the NZ Wars (a colonial conflict) vs any other specific war (75% vs 8%; RR = 9.66; 95%CI: 4.03 to 23.1; p=0.0032). When considering militaristic features of the statue and associated structure, there were a number of downward trends over the four consecutive time periods studied eg, for any weapon on the statue figure: 100%, 95%, 75% and 54% (p-trend = 0.0000001). In terms of statue demographics and contribution to war efforts (at home or abroad), there was marked under-representation of women and Pasifika. In conclusion, this national survey of military statues provides evidence for attacks on statues being related to statue features (military leadership) and a particular colonial war. The decline over time of warfare-related iconography may be an objective measure of one component of militarism.