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The mayor of a town in France has thrown a patriotic female statue out of his town hall because its breasts were too big
The terracotta bust of Marianne -- the traditional female embodiment of the French Republic in a Phrygian cap -- was an original work by a local artist
installed in 2007 at the town hall in Neuville-en-Ferrain
"It was making people gossip," said one town hall employee who asked not to be named
Mayor Gerard Cordon persuaded councilors to approve 900 Euros (1,280 dollars) in this year's budget to buy a replacement
a more conventional bust of Marianne modeled on the statuesque French model Laetitia Casta
said she gave it outsized breasts deliberately
"to symbolize the generosity of the Republic."
The town hall bought her terracotta statue in 2007 for 1,400 Euros
"The mayor has had it under his nose for several years
He chose it from among other designs even before I baked it," she told Agence France Presse
I only hope he will not have it destroyed."
Another town hall official who asked not to be named said he regretted the bust's removal
which was done "not by a joint decision but by the mayor alone."
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