Captain Cook cottage and statue vandalised

Vandals have attempted to remove the head of a Captain Cook statue in Melbourne, just weeks after it was reinstalled. 

Police believe two offenders spray-painted the 18th century cottage with what police described as "anti-Cook comments" and tried to remove the head of the statue in Fitzroy Gardens around 2am on Tuesday. 

The paint has since been cleaned off the cottage. 

Detectives are examining footage from nearby CCTV cameras to try and identify those involved. 

The statue was previously sawn off at the ankles and vandalised last year, and it was repaired and returned nearly two weeks ago. 

Last year, in the lead up to Australia Day, the Captain Cook sculpture in St Kilda was also sawn off with the words "the colony will fall" scrawled in red paint.

Image: Nine