Captain Cook statue is smashed and covered in red paint two days before Australia Day celebrations

A Captain Cook statue was covered in red paint and smashed just two days before Australia Day celebrations are set to begin.

The monument of the famed British explorer James Cook is located in the Randwick suburb in Sydney and was vandalised ahead of large anti-colonial protests expected over the weekend.

Local cops from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command responded to reports of a statue damaged and covered with graffiti at around 8.15am on Friday.

They seized 'a number of items' at the statue and set up a crime scene that would be forensically examined.

It is the second time in 12 months that the statue has been a target of destruction.

Statues of colonial figures have become common targets ahead of Australia Day on January 26, a date that marks the arrival of European settlers at Sydney Harbour in 1788.

Thousands of demonstrators typically hold mass rallies on the holiday, decrying the historical plight of Australia's Indigenous peoples at the hands of colonial masters.

The sandstone statue of Cook in eastern Sydney was doused in red paint and had its hand and nose smashed off, local mayor Dylan Parker said.

Parker said the same statue of Cook - who claimed Australia's eastern coastline for Great Britain in 1770 - was targeted in February last year.

It was covered with red paint and had parts of its sandstone damaged, with works to repair and restore it completed a month later. 

Local politician Andrew Hay said the vandals were 'low lives' seeking to make a 'political point'.

Dr Carolyn Martin, a Liberal councillor in Randwick, said the statue was left in an 'absolute mess' and council ratepayers would have to pick up the bill for the repairs.

'I'm here with a council worker that looked after it last time when it was damaged, and just to restore it is such a big effort and expense,' Martin told 2GB Radio on Friday.

'But that aside … we're all just horrified.'

The local council in Randwick also blasted the vandalism as 'a disservice to the community and a disservice to reconciliation'.

But Philipa Veitch, a Randwick Greens councillor, said in a statement that the statue was 'a painful reminder of the devastating impacts of colonisation, which continues to this day'.

'It's time to look at other options, including its placement in a museum,' she said. 'I'm sure there are many local artists who could be commissioned to create a much more appropriate and inclusive work.'

There are several Captain Cook statues across Australia, and others have also been vandalised on or around January 26.

Last year, one Captain Cook statue was cut down on the eve of the holiday, while its plinth was spray painted with the words 'the colony will fall'.

Two years earlier the same Melbourne statue was covered in red paint, while in 2018 it was splashed with graffiti that read 'no pride' and had an Aboriginal flag placed next to it.  

Police have asked anyone with information, CCTV or dashcam footage of the incident to contact Crime Stoppers.

They have also encouraged people to report 'any suspicious behaviour' around monuments and other significant sights over the long weekend.

Thousands are expected to gather at protests in Sydney and Melbourne for Australia Day on Sunday, drawing attention to the many hardships still faced by Indigenous Australians.