PARIS (AFP).- A giant inflatable green sculpture was reduced to a flaccid heap on one of Paris's swankiest squares on Saturday after vandals attacked the work that sparked outrage for its resemblance to a sex toy.

The 24 metre-high artwork by American artist Paul McCarthy, called "Tree," was unveiled on Thursday on the Vendome Square alongside the Ritz Hotel and luxury jewelry stores, provoking a storm of mirth and outrage on social media over its resemblance to a sex toy called a butt-plug.

One man was so outraged that he slapped McCarthy three times in the face, yelling that he was not French and his work had no business on the square, before running off, reported Le Monde daily.

The 69-year-old contemporary artist is known for his controversial and ambiguous works, but even he was surprised at the reception he got in Paris, better known for its relaxed attitude toward sexual matters.

On Saturday, vandals cut the cables with which the offending "Tree" was kept in place, leaving it slumped on the pavement and a security guard with no choice but to deflate it, a police source told AFP.

"Individuals waited until the security guard's attention was elsewhere and cut the cable the kept the sculpture in place," the source said on condition of anonymity.

"The inflated work slumped down," the source said, adding that police were investigating the incident.

An official from the FIAC contemporary art fair which put on the exhibit said the offenders had in fact first unplugged the pump that kept the structure erect.

The FIAC said it intended to resurrect the sculpture as soon as technically possible.


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