Metro UK: #PlugGate: ‘Giant sex toy’ punctured by locals as artist is punched for shaming Paris

Ah, the Place Vendôme.

North of the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, it was built as a monument to the glory of the armies of Louis XIV, later destroyed in the French Revolution and rebuilt by Napoleon I, torn down again, and rebuilt again.

It’s truly a historic place.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising, therefore, that our cousins across the channel have not taken kindly to the – ahem – erection of a piece of inflatable ‘art’ in their historic square that bears a striking resemblance to a sex toy.

The 75ft-tall bright green butt plug – optimistically called ‘Tree’ by its creator – has offended Parisians so much that locals punctured the structure late last night and cut the wires keeping it upright, as well as venting their anger on Twitter using the hashtag #PlugGate.

‘Individuals have severed the cables that hold the sculpture in place, taking advantage of a momentary lack of a security guard,’ said a police spokesman.

One local man even punched artist Paul McCarthy three times in the face, screaming that he is not French and his work has no place in the city.

The 69-year-old American meanwhile, who was not injured severely in the attack, has insisted ‘Tree’ is ‘an abstract work’.

‘It all started with a joke: Originally, I thought that anal plug had a shape similar to the sculptures of Brancusi,’ he said.

‘The people may be offended if they want to refer to ‘the plug’ but for me, this is more of an abstraction.’

The work was created for the International Contemporary Art Fair, which takes place in Paris from 23 to 36 October.