A group of Curtin University academics have lashed out at The West Australian newspaper for publishing an alleged "vicious attack on Aboriginal people".

Around 25 Curtin academics signed a letter addressed to the newspaper's editor Brett McCarthy, and attacked The West for publishing a column by controversial Herald Sun journalist Andrew Bolt.

The statue of Captain James Cook in Sydney's Hyde Park that was defaced, which is understood to have prompted Mr Bolt's column. Credit:Cole Bennetts

Mr Bolt's column addressed academics and politicians who have previously campaigned to tear down the statues of Captain James Cook and former Governor of New South Wales Lachlan Macquarie, and said "while we've had some shameful massacres, there was never a government campaign to wipe out Aborigines".

"This week came Bronwyn Carlson, a Macquarie University associate professor who identifies as Aboriginal and called for the tearing down of not just Cook's statues, but those of Lachlan Macquarie, our fifth colonial governor," Mr Bolt wrote.