A huge statue of the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti has been removed from the southern entrance to the Minya governorate's Samalout city in Upper Egypt on Sunday evening, according to Aswat Masriya .
The local government removed the statue after the public's dismay at the apparently distorted nature of the statue in comparison with the original world-famous Nefertiti bust it is supposedly modeled after. City locals requested its removal as they described it as "disfigured" and "inappropriate" for placement at the city's entrance on the Egypt-Aswan highway.
In addition, the statue was heavily criticized and sarcastically mocked on social media as it went viral after photos of it started circulating on the Internet. Some users expressed anger while others made fun of the statue's disproportionate nature, with some likening it to Frankenstein in old famous movie scenes.
The head of Samalout city, Gamal Kanaway, told Aswat Masriya that he decided to remove the statue in response to the locals' disapproval. He added that the local government administrative unit had decided to replace the statue with a statue of a peace dove.
The original Nefertiti statue is a 3,300-year-old painted limestone bust of the famous ancient Egyptian queen, wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. The remarkably beautiful statue is one of the most famous symbols of ancient Egyptian history and culture.
The iconic bust was discovered by a German archaeological team led by Ludwig Borchardt in 1912 in Thutmose's workshop in the Amarna archaeological site in Egypt. It was taken to Germany the following year where it has since remained and is currently on display in the Neues Museum in Berlin.
The statue has seen quite a lot of controversy over the years. Egypt has been demanding its return to its homeland ever since its official unveiling in 1924, without any positive response from the German side despite years of negotiations and banning threats. In addition, the sculpture's authenticity has been called into question with many claiming it a "modern fake."
"The foundation's position on the return of Nefertiti remains unchanged. She is and remains the ambassador of Egypt in Berlin," said Professor Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (which runs the Neues Museum) in a statement in 2011, after recent attempts were made to get the sculpture back to Egypt.