A pair of fish statues in Morocco have recently been demolished, and the reasons why should be pretty obvious.
According to Morocco World News, controversy surrounding an art piece in Mehdia, near Kenitra in west-central Morocco, has led to the demolition of the statues depicting two larger-than-life fish.
The fish appear, to some online at least, to be oddly-shaped and resemble a certain part of the male anatomy. The statues were placed at the center of a roundabout, large enough to see for every driver who circled them.
The two slightly curved, upward-facing fish don't look like a recognizable species, which probably helped send people's minds to, well, the gutter.
The artist, who remains unknown, has for now dodged the public and online ridicule that followed once word (and photos of the statues) spread, but local authorities are taking the brunt of the criticism instead.
Morocco World News helped translate some of the reactions on social media, and they're close to what you'd expect.
"People in Kenitra and Mehdia told local authorities they want reforms in the city. And authorities bring them these statues," says one poster.
"Pornographic fish. People in Kenitra asked for reforms, authorities [brought them this]," said another.
"Reform and change," one sarcastic remark proclaimed.
It was an unfortunate situation for the city of Kenitra, which is often associated with nearby Mehdia, where the statue was originally located before being removed. As the Morocco World Times put it, "internet users erroneously framed the fish statues as a blunder of Kenitra's local government."
That led to Kenitra's city officials to address the statues on their own social media accounts in an attempt to disassociate from the controversy.
The demolition process can be seen started as soon as September 17 in this Facebook post:
What do you think: Are these fish statues crossing a line of common decency, or just a poor rendition of a strangely-shaped species?
In either case, there's one less piece of art based on aquatic species in the world thanks to some opinionated online voices.
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