The Grinch usually spoils Christmas by stealing presents and decorations, but on this occasion the removal of a giant Santa hat from the Angel of the North by a prankster dressed as the Dr Seuss character is likely to be welcomed.

On Christmas Eve a merry band of climbers adorned the artwork with the festive headgear, later revealing that it was their seventh attempt at pulling off the stunt.

The “eminently qualified” group have now made good on their pledge to remove the hat. “That has always been my biggest worry about the whole thing. That someone goes up to take it down and gets themselves hurt,” one of the climbers previously said.

Someone dressed as the Grinch took the hat down in the early hours of Saturday with the help of two others in Santa outfits.

The Angel of the North gets into the festive spirit. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

“We never in a million years expected it to hit the headlines the way it did,” one of the removal team said. “Because it’s such good publicity, we thought we’d give the public something else to laugh and smile about before the end of the festive season and came up with the Grinch and a few Santas to take it down.”

Gateshead council had welcomed the stunt, describing the public response as “staggering” after the pictures of the Santa hat atop of what is believed to be the largest angel structure in the world made national news.

The group’s previous attempts at dressing the Antony Gormley artwork, based on a cast of the artist’s own body, were hamstrung by windy weather, a car breaking down and the hat being too small to fit on the angel’s head.