‘Absolute mess’: Captain Cook statue vandalised ahead of Australia Day

A statue of Captain Cook in Sydney’s east has been splashed with red paint and had its hand and nose knocked off in the leadup to the Australia Day weekend.

Randwick City councillor Dr Carolyn Martin told 2GB’s Ben Fordham the damage was discovered on Friday morning, and the statue was an “absolute mess”.

The statue of Captain James Cook in Randwick has been vandalised for the second time in 12 months.Credit: Nick Moir

It’s the second time the sandstone statue on Belmore Road, Randwick, has been vandalised in 12 months.

“They’ve splattered paint all over it ... and they’ve knocked his hand off and part of his face and nose,” she said on Friday morning.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful behaviour. We’re all absolutely horrified.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns condemned the attack, saying “national days are important for the state and for the country”.

“The NSW Police is investigating and will identify and arrest those responsible,” he said.

Randwick Council is working to repair the statue as police investigate the vandalism attack.Credit: Nick Moir

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said “vandalism has no place in public discussion”.

“[It] is an illegal act that does a disservice to progressing your cause, a disservice to the community and a disservice to reconciliation,” he said in a statement.

NSW Police said specialist forensic investigators would examine the scene, and any “suspicious behaviour around monuments” over the Australia Day long weekend should be reported.

Last February, the same statue was splattered with red paint, and the council engaged heritage stone specialists to repair it.

The statue was also defaced in 2020, with black spray paint used to write “no pride in genocide” and draw the outline of an Aboriginal flag on the monument.

On Thursday night, the heads were stolen from the statues of two former prime ministers in a Botanical Gardens in regional Victoria.

The heads of Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd were removed from Ballarat’s Botanical Gardens, while the remaining statues’ name plates were covered in spray paint. Police have estimated the value of the damage is more than $140,000.

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