Captain Cook statue vandalised ahead of Australia Day 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.
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.
Local councillor Carolyn Martin said on Friday vandals may have used a ladder to scale a fence around the statue.
"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.".
