Captain Cook statue vandalised in Anzac Day attack

Vandals attacked the Captain James Cook statue in Victoria Square on Anzac Day and poured red dye into Bowker Fountain.

A Christchurch City Council contractor was called in to repair the damage on Thursday afternoon and was due to continue cleaning up the graffiti and protest messages around the square on Friday.

It comes after the statue was attacked by vandals in February on the anniversary of Captain Cook's death - February 14, 1779.

The bill to repair the damage in February cost ratepayers up to $25,000 after Cook's eyes were gouged, his nose cut off, and three of the four sides of the granite base were daubed with slogans in red paint proclaiming: ‘Happy Cpt Cook is Dead Day’, ‘The Crown is Complicit’ and ‘Landback’.

In the Anzac Day incident, slogans like “F*** James Cook”, “Free Gaza now”, and “No More Western Imperialism” were scattered around the square.

The vandals also used spray paint to deface the statue's base and placed stencil messages across the square.

A city council spokesperson said the repair crew will attempt to clean up as much damage as possible at Victoria Square on Friday.

The cost of the work is not yet known.

"It's a complex process with this stone, we will have to wait until [Friday] for the trained crew to clean it up."

The statue of Captain James Cook (1728-1779) was presented to Christchurch by bookmaker, Matthew Frank Barnett.

It was sculpted by William Thomas Trethewey (1892-1956), who also created the Citizens War Memorial in Cathedral Square. Trethewey carved Cook in a heroic pose out of a 12-tonne block of imported marble. The statue was officially unveiled by Governor-General Lord Bledisloe on August 10, 1932.