The bronze shoe monument. Photograph: Mahmud Saleh/AFP/Getty Images

A statue of a giant shoe has been unveiled in Saddam Hussein's hometown in honour of the Iraqi journalist who threw his footwear at the former US president George Bush.

The statue also features a poem honouring Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who shot to international fame last month when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a farewell press conference.

The shoes narrowly missed the then president and Zaidi was quickly bundled to the ground by security staff.

The public artwork went on display in Tikrit, 90 miles north-west of Baghdad.

The Baghdad-based artist, Laith al-Amari, said his fibreglass-and-copper work was a homage to the pride of the Iraqi people.

Zaidi, who has since been dubbed by some as the Baghdad Clogger, was charged with assaulting a foreign leader and is in detention awaiting trial.