A giant bicycle designed to celebrate the Tour of Britain has been transformed into an even more disproportionately sized hillside penis, after tricksters tampered with the design.

The structure, adorning Capstone Hill in Devon and made from cardboard and reclaimed plastic, was altered overnight and revealed amid the glory of Tuesday morning.

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The artwork in Ilfracombe celebrated stage two, which ran from Cranbrook to Barnstaple.

Creating massive bikes to liven up TV footage and stir some excitement amongst crowds has long been a part of bicycle races.

Last year, fans in Coddington, Nottinghamshire went to huge efforts to create a dynamic bicycle made of sheep – but for this year’s race it seems the temptation to lower the tone was just too great.

Pranksters repurposed the creation with expertise, leaving the wheels in place and having their way with the frame of the bicycle.

The original artwork was created to draw attention to the work of Plastic Free North Devon.

Seth Conway, project co-ordinator, saw the funny side, and told Devon Live: “They’ve shown some creativity but it’ll be the bike that’s remembered.”

He added: “[It] was designed to highlight the great work of the Plastic Free North Devon organisation in helping to clean our beaches and encourage people to cut out single use plastic as much as possible. It was going to have been taken down today anyway but someone got there first.”

The Southern coastal areas have form already with giant phallic depictions – the Cerne Abbas Giant has adorned the hill overlooking Cerne Abbas village in Dorset from as far back as the 17th century.

The 180 ft high nude male has long been standing to attention in more ways than one and local folklore associates the friendly giant with fertility.