Captain Cook statue disfigured and painted red in Sydney ahead of Australia Day Police say they are investigating incident which saw statue’s hand and nose knocked off.
A statue of British explorer Captain James Cook in a suburb of Sydney has been vandalised ahead of Australia Day, the second such incident in as many years.
“Randwick City Council condemns this act of vandalism of the heritage Captain Cook statue,” he said.
Australia Day, celebrated on 26 January, is a contentious holiday in the country as it is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, establishing the first permanent European settlement on the continent.
He said the heritage statue would be restored but it would take weeks to do it, lamenting that ratepayer money could have been put to better use.
