Installation, which includes a giant candy sculpture wrapped in the Saudi flag, will be moved following complaints

An art exhibit installed close to the site of World Trade Center in New York, which includes a giant candy sculpture wrapped in the Saudi Arabian flag, will be relocated following complaints from groups advocating for victims of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the agency that oversees the site said on Monday.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed the exhibit Candy Nations will be moved several miles away from lower Manhattan to the John F Kennedy airport AirTrain system, the transportation link that takes passengers from the subway train to the airport terminals in the city borough of Queens.

“We have been in contact with the 9/11 Memorial and various stakeholders, and in full collaboration with the artist will relocate the exhibit from its current location,” the Port Authority said in a statement, referring to 9/11 as the abbreviated term for the attacks on September 11, 2001, when terrorists flew hijacked passenger jets into the World Trade Center in New York, into the Pentagon building and into a fatal dive in Pennsylvania en route to an unconfirmed target in Washington DC.

“We believe this solution respects the unique sensitivities of the site and preserves the artistic integrity of the exhibit,” the statement continued.

The site in lower Manhattan that was known as Ground Zero for many years after the attacks is now occupied by a memorial where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood, as well as a museum, new skyscrapers including a soaring tower called One World Trade, and a transportation and shopping center.

Each of the candy sculptures in the exhibit, crafted by the French artist Laurence Jenkell and shown in more than 25 countries, features flags from countries that take part in the Group of 20, or G20, summits.

Sick survivors of 9/11 could be granted a permanent compensation fund Read more

A coalition of family members of 9/11 victims and survivors released a statement on Monday saying the exhibit’s relocation “is the right thing to do”.

“The sculpture’s presence at this site, depicting the KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] flag, is an outrageous affront to the 9/11 community and all other Americans who seek justice for the attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001,” the 9/11 group said.

Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks that day. And many thousands who dug through the toxic wreckage at Ground Zero or were near the site have become very sick and many have also died. Fifteen of the 19 terrorist attackers were Saudi nationals.

Hundreds of victims’ relatives and injured survivors have sued the Saudi government, saying its employees knowingly assisted hijackers who carried out the attacks.

The Saudi government has long denied any involvement in the attacks.