A controversial 12-metre sculpture dubbed the “disco dong” and “giant dildo” has been removed from Byron Bay following a nine-month public backlash.

The artwork by Melbourne artist Corey Thomas was taken down on Wednesday night from a roundabout which is one of the main entrances to the northern New South Wales town.

The council insisted it had learned from the saga but warned that local residents should also reflect on their behaviour and the way the artist was treated.

The piece was meant to depict 6,000 metal birds flying around a silhouette of Cape Byron Lighthouse. The council had allocated an estimated $55,000 to the project including design, materials and construction.

Byron Shire Council deputy mayor, Michael Lyon, said there were no plans to commission another art project at the roundabout after the controversial sculpture was taken down. Photograph: Brendan Beirne

Byron Bay local Liz Friend, who started an online petition to have the “nasty object” torn down, said she was thrilled common sense had prevailed.

“It was huge, shiny, uncharacteristic and intrusive,” Friend told Guardian Australia. “It was so un-Byron Bay.”

Friend said in recent months birds had started falling off the sculpture and people were climbing on it. It was a safety risk, she said.

She said a sense of “calm” has been restored to the roundabout, which now only features plants and flowers.

The roundabout restored to a more natural state. Photograph: Liz Friend

The sculpture has to be pulled apart and will be taken to the local tip in coming days.

The council is selling the metal birds to members of the public for $20 in order to recoup the removal costs of up to $13,000.

So far 1,000 birds have been sold and there have been 400 expressions of interest.

Friend criticised the council’s art commissioning process and lack of public consultation.

“The council will have to take a good hard look at themselves,” she said.

The Byron Shire Council deputy mayor, Michael Lyon, said the sculpture was last-minute, rushed and the shire hadn’t commissioned art for a long time.

“We have learned how not to do public art,” Lyon said. “We didn’t have time to get really decent expressions of interest.”

Lyon said the concept of artwork was fantastic but the council hadn’t been able to ensure that was delivered properly.

The short timeframe meant that expressions of interest were open for just a month, and only three months were allowed between the tender being awarded and the delivery date, which meant that changes to the design and materials were approved by council workers but not brought back before the council’s public art panel.

Lyon said he wasn’t embarrassed by the dick jokes the artwork had generated but admitted it had been a distraction for the council.

Byron Bay tells coffs harbour, goulburn, ballina etc where they can shove their giant icons when it launches it's giant... dick! pic.twitter.com/owoZd3ELEz — tim edwards (@Sportsocratic) December 13, 2018

He confirmed there were no plans to commission another art project at the roundabout.

The Byron Bay community should also take lessons from the drama, he said.

“It’s also provided [an opportunity] for our community to reflect on some of the ways they have acted,” Lyon said. “The way the artist was treated when he was putting it up – some of the online vitriol has been very disturbing. He has suffered tremendously and took on this project in good faith.”

Comment has been sought from the artist.

A separate online petition has called for the sculpture to be moved to the Blue Mountains, but it has limited signatures.