Police in Sydney are investigating after a statue of British explorer Captain James Cook was sprayed with red paint and damaged two days before Australia's national day. Police said several items had been found near the statue of Cook, the captain of the first Western ship to reach the east coast of Australia.
Local councillor Carolyn Martin said on Friday vandals may have used a ladder to scale a fence around the statue. It was "an absolute mess", Ms Martin told Sydney-based radio station 2GB. "They have splattered paint all over it, then they have managed to get to the top of the statue and they've knocked his hand off and also part of his face and nose.".
It was the second time the statue has been defaced and vandalised in the last year. Australia Day, on 26 January, is known to some Indigenous Australians as Invasion Day, symbolising a key moment in the destruction of indigenous cultures by European settlers.
Cat left on plane ends up taking three flights before reaching its destination. 'Mysterious balls' that washed up on Australian beaches contained faecal bacteria. Danielle Collins: Tennis star says 'nobody got hurt' as she brushes off booing from crowd. It marks the anniversary of the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1788.
Today, the indigenous population, who trace their ancestors on the continent back 50,000 years, make up about 4% of the population of 27 million. By most socio-economic measures, they are the most disadvantaged people in the country. Read more from Sky News:Trump releases JFK assassination filesStorm Eowyn latestCost of climbing Everest rises.
