This video of a GVSU student riding naked on a Miley Cyrus-esque Wrecking Ball was removed this week (Picture: Wood TV News 8)

An American university has been forced to remove a campus sculpture of a ‘wrecking ball’ for safety reasons after students kept riding it naked to recreate Miley Cyrus’ controversial new music video.

Following the release of the video for Cyrus’ hit Wrecking Ball, students at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University (GVSU) began filming and photographing themselves on the 18-year-old statue in various states of undress.

However, their fun was cut short by GVSU’s facility services department who have now removed the ball and taken it to a secure, off-campus location.

‘We became concerned, just from a safety and structural integrity standpoint,’ said the department’s Tim Thimmesch. ‘So we elected to go ahead and remove the ball for now.’




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The decision has caused outrage among the alumni, however, with students staging several protests at the former site of the wrecking ball – otherwise known as the work of art ‘Untitled’ by local artist Dale Eldred.

One student who took part in a demonstration – which included a 200-strong group of students all singing Wrecking Ball – described it as ‘horrible’ that the university had decided to move the sculpture.

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‘I think the wrecking ball is a tradition. I know that they don’t want people riding around on it naked, that’s kind of not very appropriate. But I think they should definitely keep it up,’ they said.

Bosses are so far standing by their decision, although Mr Thimmesch said the unversity would like to return it to its former home – once the furore around the Miley Cyrus video has died down.

WATCH: Local TV station Wood TV 8 reports on the controversy