AUSTRALIAN police began an investigation yesterday after a statue of Captain James Cook was covered with red paint and disfigured.

The attack took place ahead of Australia Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the British landing at Sydney Cove on January 26 1788.

Many indigenous Australians object to the commemoration, describing the “invasion” as the beginning of centuries of pain.

Councillor Carolyn Martin in Randwick, where the statue is located, told Sydney radio station 2GB yesterday that the vandals had knocked off one hand and parts of the face and nose and thrown paint over the statue.

A statement from the local council described the vandalism as “a disservice to the community and a disservice to reconciliation.”

Captain Cook charted the east coast of Australia in 1770, paving the way for the British to invade the country.

The statue, one of several of him across Australia, was also vandalised in February last year.

Attacks on statues of Captain Cook are becoming more frequent on or around Australia Day.

Last year, a statue of him in Melbourne was brought down on the eve of the holiday and its plinth spray-painted with the words “the colony will fail.”