It was a little known but well-regarded 16th century wooden carving of St George on horseback, battling a dragon, tucked away in a small church in northern Spain.

But the well-meaning restoration efforts of a local handicrafts teacher have left the 500-year old carving in Estella, Navarre, looking more like a cartoon character, attracting global dismay and bringing back bad memories for the Spanish cultural authorities of another church art botch job that caught the world's attention: the restoration of Ecce Homo, a religious mural in Borja in 2012, that left Christ looking rather more like a monkey than the saviour.

The "unfortunate" restoration of St George at the Romanesque church of San Miguel de Estella was conducted without consultation, according to the town's mayor Koldo Leoz. An arts-and-crafts workshop company called Karmacolor undertook the work at the behest of the local priest, apparently then handing the job to the local teacher.