A recreation of an ancient winged bull statue destroyed by Isis in Iraq has been unveiled as the latest installation to perch atop the famous Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz, 44, has chosen to revive an ancient Assyrian statue destroyed by the group in February 2015 in an act of wanton cultural terrorism intended to provoke the West.

The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist is a sculpture of a lamassu, a mythological winged bull creature with the head of a man that stood guard over the city of Nineveh for over a thousand years until it was desecrated by the militants' power drills.

The piece will be positioned on the plinth facing south east - looking back towards Nineveh - and is constructed from 6,000 tin cans of date syrup; the lamassu reborn from the sort of ordinary objects that comprise the fabric of everyday life.

Dates were one of Iraq's most important exports before the industry was decimated by two successive Gulf Wars. The unorthodox materials nod to Rakowitz's own history, his family emigrating to San Francisco in 1946 and retaining ties to their troubled homeland thanks to his grandfather's import-export business.

The artist has continued to engage with Iraqi subject matter throughout his career.

His current undertaking sees him recreate all 7,000 items looted from the National Museum of Iraq during the 2003 invasion of the country led by the US to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

His controversial 2011 project Spoils meanwhile saw him acquire 18 of Hussein's own dinner plates from a US military veteran on eBay and use them to serve a traditional Iraqi venison dish in a New York restaurant.

The US State Department subsequently intervened on diplomatic grounds and confiscated the crockery before the then-US president, Barack Obama, returned them to Baghdad.

The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist is only the latest conceptual artwork to take pride of place in front of the National Gallery.

The Fourth Plinth has provided an ever-changing free exhibition space since the first artwork appeared in 1999.

The artist with his work (PA)

Unlike the capital's permanent fixtures - the Henry Moore in front of King's Cross Station, say, or the figures of historic leaders declaiming in Parliament Square - the Fourth Plinth installations never risk disappearing into the backdrop, forgotten by all Londoners bar the pigeons as they scurry past the same old monuments. The view is always new and seldom boring.

The plinth was designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1841 and intended for a figure on horseback to join George IV in Trafalgar Square's north east corner (British military stalwarts Sir Charles Napier and Henry Havelock occupy the others).

It stood empty for more than 150 years, however, after funding for a statue of King William IV (1765-1837) fell through and Britain was left debating an alternative.

'Powerless Structures' by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset (Getty) (Getty Images)

It was not until 1998 that the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) commissioned three contemporary sculptures as a stopgap solution, with the-then culture secretary, Chris Smith, commissioning famed barrister and novelist Sir John Mortimer to undertake a public inquiry on the best possible use of the platform.

Mortimer concluded that the public would ideally prefer a rolling conveyor belt of new works rather one fixed figure.

Responsibility for the ownership of Trafalgar Square was transferred from Westminster City Council to the Mayor of London's office in 2005, at which point the programme flourished.

The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Show all 12 1 /12 The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - Current Michael Rakowitz's 'The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist' is 2018's artwork on the plinth in Trafalgar Square. PA The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 1999 British artist Mark Wallinger oversees the unveiling of his statue Ecce Homo, a contemporary life-size figure of Christ at Trafalgar Square in 1999. PA The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2000 The second sculpture to appear on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square was designed by sculptor Bill Woodrow and entitled 'Regardless of History'. It shows a tree resting on a head and a book, sitting on the plinth in 2000 . The bronze weighed 11 tons and towered seven metres above the plinth. PA The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2001 An 11-ton hollow block of clear resin being unveiled on the top of the fourth plinth in 2001. Entitled Monument, the sculpture is Rachel Whiteread's exact mirror of its granite plinth. PA The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2005 Marc Quinn's sculpture of Alison Lapper, entitled Alison Lapper Pregnant, sits on the fourth plinth, in Trafalgar Square. The 13 tonne, 3.55 metre high marble sculpture was unveiled in 2005. Lapper, who was born with no arms and shortened legs due to a congenital disorder, posed naked for Quinn when she was eight months pregnant. PA The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2007 Thomas Schutte's fourth plinth design was unveiled in 2007. Schutte's sculpture 'Model for a Hotel' was made out of glass and weighed over eight tonnes. Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2009 Jill Gatcum releases balloons as she stands on the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. The project by artist Antony Gormley entitled 'One & Other' saw a different person take their place on the empty fourth plinth every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days in 2009. The 2400 applicants were chosen at random. Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2010 A sculpture by artist Yinka Shonibare, 'Nelson's Ship in a Bottle' on the fourth plinth in 2010. The piece consisted of a scale replica of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson's ship HMS Victory, with sails made of printed fabric in a colourful African pattern, in a giant glass bottle and commemorated the Battle of Trafalgar. It was the first commission by a black British artist. Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2012 A bronze sculpture entitled 'Powerless Structures, Fig.101' designed by Danish artist Michael Elmgreen and Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2012. The sculpture features a boy on a rocking horse. AFP/Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2013 A sculpture by German artist Artist Katharina Fritsch entitled Hahn/Cock which stands on the fourth plinth was unveiled in 2013. The 4.7m high sculpture occupied Trafalgar Square's empty plinth for 18 months. AFP/Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2015 Gift Horse is lit by floodlights in 2015. The sculpture, by 78-year old German artist Hans Haacke, is the skeleton of a riderless horse with a London Stock Exchange ticker attached to its leg, intended to represent the effects of the City, power and money. Getty The Fourth Plinth: Trafalgar Square's changing artwork Fourth Plinth - 2016 The sculpture, 'Really Good' by British artist David Shrigley on the plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2016. Shrigley is best known for his distinctive drawing style and works that make satirical comments on everyday situations and human interactions. Shrigleys sculpture "Really Good", is a seven-metre high hand with a disproportionately long thumb giving a thumbs up. AFP/Getty

Notable works have included Antony Gormley's One & Other (2009) - in which ordinary members of the public took turns to spend an hour standing on it, free to do as they wish; Yinka Sonibare's self-explanatory Nelson's Ship in a Bottle (2010-12); Katharina Fritsch's giant blue cockerel (2013-15); Hans Haacke's skeletal horse (in tribute to painter George Stubbs); and, most recently, David Shrigley's bronze thumbs-up, Really Good (2016-18).