PARIS – Vandals deflated a giant sculpture that resembled a sex toy this weekend, bringing down an installation by the provocative American artist Paul McCarthy in the heart of the French capital’s luxury neighborhood, Place Vendôme.
On Saturday, Mr. McCarthy and local authorities said he would not seek to re-inflate the 80-foot lime green sculpture, which he had described as a tree but critics said looked like something much more prosaic: an anal plug.
Because of “acts of vandalism,” the tree will not be reinstalled, according to the Festival of International Contemporary Art, which is running Oct. 23-26 at the Grand Palais in Paris and which sponsored Mr. McCarthy.
“After the violent reactions, the artist was disturbed by the potential impact of the work,” according to the group. After the tree was installed last Thursday, a man slapped Mr. McCarthy three times and screamed that he was not French and that his work should not be in Paris.
The towering sculpture quickly provoked an angry response on social networks, particularly among conservative Catholic groups, with tweets about a giant plug disfiguring Place Vendôme.
The destruction of the tree remains under police investigation. But in the meantime, Mr. McCarthy’s other works will get attention with the reopening of the Paris Mint this month, in a McCarthy exhibition called “Chocolate Factory.”
Mr. McCarthy, 69, from Los Angeles, is known for his subversive streak, shown in works like the 2007 inflatable installation “Complex Pile,” depicting a pile of feces.