'Harmful' Prince Philip sculpture blasted as 'poorest ever' ordered to be removed

A 13ft sculpture created to honour Prince Philip is set to be removed.

Cambridge City Council's public art officer described the £150,00 work as "possibly the poorest quality work that [had] ever been submitted", the Mirror reports. The sculpture, on Hills Road in the city, is said to represent Philip's role as vice-chancellor of Cambridge University.

The sculpture, named 'The Don', has been slapped with an enforcement notice after passers-by were left disgruntled by the work. It was previously linked to artist Pablo Atchugarry, who has since disowned the piece in Cambridge.

According to The Tab, Atchugarry previously said: "I am not the author of this sculpture, and it is an abuse that they had used my name. I wish somebody would apologise to me for this misunderstanding."

On March 5, the sculpture was hit with the notice after it stood strong for four years without receiving planning approval. The note explained it had a "harmful material impact" on the appearance of the area and that it was contrary to policies in the Cambridge Local Plan.

It said the sculpture must be permanently removed along with its foundations and plinth within four months from April 11, unless an appeal is made beforehand. The land must also be restored to its former condition prior to the sculpture's installation, reports Cambridgeshire Live.

One student previously described it as a "dementor", whilst another said the face looked like an "elephant's trunk." Councillor Katie Thornburrow said that nobody "seems to have a good word to say about it".

She wrote about the removal update in a blog post and said: "I will be glad to see it gone, but remain angry that developers could just dump it in place and then force the council to spend officers'