A statue of Captain James Cook in Sydney's east has been splashed with red paint and had the sandstone damaged for the second time in 12 months.

A statue of British explorer James Cook in Sydney was vandalized with paint and damage shortly before Australia Day, raising tensions around the holiday known as Invasion Day by Indigenous Australians.

A statue in Sydney of British explorer James Cook, captain of the first Western ship to reach the east coast of Australia, was sprayed with red paint and damaged two days before

Australian police are investigating after a statue of Captain James Cook was covered in red paint and disfigured, ahead of the Australia Day weekend. It is the second time in 12 months that the statue in Sydney has been vandalised.

While Cook is historically recognised as the explorer who charted and claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain in 1770, his arrival is also seen as a prelude to the violent colonisation, dispossession and systemic oppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Vandals in Australia poured red paint over a statue of famed British explorer James Cook, officials said Friday ahead of large anti-colonial protests expected over the weekend.