People look at U.S. Artist Paul McCarthy's 'Tree' creation which is displayed on the Place Vendome in Paris October 16, 2014. 'Tree' is an 25 meter-high inflatable sculpture as part of the International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) which runs from October
People look at U.S. Artist Paul McCarthy's 'Tree' creation which is displayed on the Place Vendome in Paris October 16, 2014. 'Tree' is an 25 meter-high inflatable sculpture as part of the International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) which runs from October 23 - 26 in the French capital. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY TRAVEL)
People look at U.S. Artist Paul McCarthy's 'Tree' creation which is displayed on the Place Vendome in Paris October 16, 2014. 'Tree' is an 25 meter-high inflatable sculpture as part of the International Contemporary Art Fair (FIAC) which runs from October 23 - 26 in the French capital. REUTERS/Charles Platiau (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY TRAVEL)

The embarrassment caused by an 80-foot tall art installation on Place Vendome in Paris was addressed by vandals who deflated the large inflatable green structure that looked like a giant sex toy - a butt plug, to be specific.

According to the New York Post, the sculpture titled Tree by artist Paul McCarthy is no more after vandals cut on Saturday the guide wires that held the sculpture in place, causing it to deflate and fold up.

French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin described the vandalism as "a serious attack on the principle of artistic freedom."

Although McCarthy said that the installation is a huge Christmas tree, he also admitted what many viewers thought: that it looks more like a huge anal plug. The similarity prompted one French to approach the artist and slap him on the face, while telling McCarthy the item has "no business being on the square," reports The Telegraph.

McCarthy apparently has fascination for art pieces that have scatological links.

Another sculpture he exhibited in Rotterdam in 2001 was a huge dwarf-like creature with a phallic-shaped butt plug, while in 2013, he shocked Hong Kong residents with a brown art installation titled Complex Pile that seems like gigantic human faeces.

The art fair was supposed to be until Oct 26, but the vandals have decided to end it weeks ahead, while some Paris visitors would miss making naughty poses of the art installation and posting them on social media.

YouTube/AFP news agency