Mercury - 3rd J 199
Author: Georgia Warner

TASMANIA'S Aboriginal community has been dismayed by vandalism to a memorial to Truganini, the State's last full-blood Aborigine who died in 1876.

In an attack condemned by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre as a major setback for reconciliation, vandals prised a bronze profile of Truganini and a plaque dedicated to her memory from a Bruny Island monument.

A group of Bruny Island schoolboys built the stone tribute at the top of the ``neck steps'' in 1967.

The vandalism comes in the wake of last year's theft of significant Aboriginal artefacts from a remote rock face on the West Coast.

``This is particularly hurtful to Tasmanian Aborigines and a real blow to reconciliation,'' TAC spokesman Michael Mansell said said.

``There is no point to any vandalism but this is terribly disappointing ... the idea of the monument was to commemorate Aboriginal people and Truganini. She was from Bruny Island. ``It's a terrible thing.''

Bev Davis, co-ordinator of the Bruny Island Historical Society, was shocked by the theft.

``Words fail to describe how I felt when I saw the denuded memorial,'' she said. ``It is the only memorial that I know of to Truganini, and I thought it would have been pretty safe.

``I just cannot believe this has happened a second time ... we repaired the monument 10 years ago.''

Police are baffled by the April 26 attack, and urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

The Department of Parks and Wildlife, the South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation and the Bruny Island Historical Society will meet tomorrow to discuss repairs to the memorial.

SETAC spokeswoman Faye Tatnell said that although the group was horrified by the theft, it did not want the original plaque replaced.

Its inscription: ``They roam no more upon this isle so stay and meditate awhile'' reflected a pre-1980s perception that the Tasmanian Aborigines had become extinct upon Truganini's death, she said.

Ms Tatnell wants the memorial site turned into an Aboriginal interpretative centre.