For three decades, the Canadian city of Moose Jaw took pride in its status as the home of the world’s largest moose statue.

Standing at a majestic 10 meters tall, Mac the Moose has weathered brutal winters, graffiti and even the inglorious loss of his jaw. His recognition was so great that in 2013, he was named the city’s most popular celebrity.

But status and renown can be fleeting.

In 2015, Norway responded with its own moose sculpture – Storelgen, or “Big Elk” – a glitzy stainless steel bull, erected with the explicit aim of surpassing Mac’s height and stealing his place in the record books.

Now, however, the Canadians are fighting back, after a pair of comedians called Norway’s statue “an egregious offence” and pleaded with Moose Jaw residents to restore the city’s stolen glory.

“You are a city famous around the world for the glorious name of Moose Jaw,” Justin Reves told residents in a video posted to Facebook. “And everyone that comes by, knows that this should be the world’s tallest moose.”

Standing in front of a forlorn Mac, Reves and colleague Greg Moore implored the residents to act quickly by adding 31cm to Mac, to “stick it to Oslo”.

The city’s mayor, Fraser Tolmie, answered the call to arms. “You may not know this, but it’s personal for me,” he said in a Facebook video in which he divulged that the moose was named after his wife’s great uncle.

“Mac the Moose was the tallest in the world, and the people of Norway have taken that from us. I’m not going to stand for it.”

The Norwegian moose, which stands midway between Oslo and Trondheim, measures a full 30cm taller than Mac. And Stor-Elvdal, the Norwegian municipality where it stands, has shown little appetite for backing away from the fight.

“We’re not letting this one go. Not a chance. We’re going to do whatever we can to make sure this is the world’s tallest moose – or biggest moose in the future, as well,” said Linda Otnes Henriksen, Stor-Elvdal’s deputy mayor, in a video posted to Facebook.

Staff in the municipality have said their moose – with the artist’s permission – could be doubled in size if needed, to a full 20 meters.

“[The Norwegians] purposely built a moose bigger than ours, but we’re going to be dignified and we’re going to win,” Tolmie told the National Post on Thursday.

Reves and Moore have set up a GoFundMe page to help hire an engineer to increase Mac’s size, hoping to raise $50,000. So far, proposals include increasing the size of his antlers or putting a helmet on him.

This is not the first time Mac has required intervention: in 2007, the statue was repaired at the cost of $30,000 after holes caused by vandalism and neglect opened up in its jaw.

Potentially creating more headaches for Moose Jaw residents, Henriksen said she was open to crowdfunding for their sculpture, but the Norwegians were waiting to see Canadian plans for “enlarging their moose”.

This isn’t the first time Canadians have been in battle about an oversized work of public art.

For two decades, the city of Duncan in British Columbia has feuded with the US town of Eveleth, Minnesota, over which is home to the world’s largest hockey stick.

Residents of Eveleth argue that their stick, erected in 1995, is the world’s largest. But in 2008 Guinness World Records sided with Canada, handing the title to Duncan.

The Minnesota town continues the fight, arguing that theirs is a real hockey stick whereas the Canadian version was merely a sculpture. To this day, they still call it the “world’s largest free-standing hockey stick”.

The New Brunswick town of Shediac – home of an outsized concrete sculpture of a lobster – was probably asking for trouble when they named their tourist attraction “‘the World’s Largest Lobster”.

In a surprise to few, it was also overtaken in 2015 by Rosetown, Australia. Their contribution, only 10% larger, was named “Big Lobster”.