The object of this desirable item has melted away, but the news itself is still hot and provocative.

After Rahway, N.J., police received an anonymous complaint about "a naked snow woman," the artistic family behind a front-yard tribute to Venus de Milo says an officer paid a visit and told them to cover up their Greek goddess of love and beauty.

The story attracted local attention this week and then popped up on the international radar.

"We had a visit from the local police who told us that a neighbor had complained about the statue and we needed to cover it up or knock it down," Elisa Gonzalez, who sculpted Venus with her daughter and son, told Agence France-Presse. "We didn't want to have any problem with the police so we covered it up."

She did say the unidentified officer complimented her. "He said, 'It's very good.'"

Gonzalez outfitted Venus with a green bikini top and blue sarong.

"I thought she looked more objectified and sexualized after you put the bikini on," she told the Newark Star-Ledger.

Her 21-year-old daughter, Marie Conneran, said it was art, not pornography. She and her mother compared it to Attorney General John Ashcroft's move to drape a semi-nude statue of the Spirit of Justice when he arrived to lead the U.S. Justice Department.

"It looks like marble. It looks like a statue," Conneran said. "Are you going to go to the (Metropolitan Museum of Art) and cover up all the statues?"

As temperatures rose, the zaftig sculpture's curves melted, and down she went Monday.

It's not clear what Gonzalez might have been charged with for her art crime had she not complied, but New Jersey (like most states) has laws against indecent exposure and lewd conduct. Keep reading for information about those statutes (which apparently apply to statues).

BTW, the famous semi-nude marble Venus de Milo — aka Aphrodite of Milo — resides in the Louvre, sans arms but very much with a head.

Lewd conduct and indecent exposure are two different terms for the same criminal offense in New Jersey. The definition of a lewd act is the exposing of the genitals for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of the actor or of any other person. A person is guilty of lewd conduct-indecent exposure in New Jersey if he commits any of the following three actions.

1. Any flagrantly lewd and offensive act which he knows or reasonably expects is likely to be observed by other non-consenting persons who would be affronted or alarmed…(will result in a Disorderly Person's Offense)

2. Exposes his intimate parts for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of the actor or of any other person under circumstances where the actor knows or reasonably expects he is likely to be observed by a child who is less than 13 years of age where the actor is at least four years older than the child…(will result in a Fourth Degree Crime)

3. Exposes his intimate parts for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of the actor or of any other person under circumstances where the actor knows or reasonably expects he is likely to be observed by a person who because of mental disease or defect is unable to understand the sexual nature of the actor's conduct…(will result in a Fourth Degree Crime)

Lewd conduct penalties

Disorderly person's offense carries the following penalties if a conviction results:

• Up to 6 months in prison

• $1,000 in fines

Fourth-degree crime carries the following penalties if a conviction results:

• Up to 18 months in prison

• $10,000 in fines