HE has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles - and now Lance Armstrong will lose his key to the City of Adelaide.

In an unprecedented move, Adelaide City Council tonight voted to withdraw the honour for the disgraced cyclist, less than a year after it decided to award him the key.

Details of the meeting were first revealed on adelaidenow today. The council voted 6-1 to strip Armstrong of the honour, with Tony Williamson dissenting.

Armstrong is the first of 33 recipients of the key to lose the honour.

Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood last week told The Advertiser Armstrong would retain the key as he had raised the profile of the Tour Down Under and cancer research.

It is believed the council will remove Armstrong's name from its honour board rather than physically retrieve the key.

The move comes after a vandal splattered red paint on the poster of Armstrong above the Nike shop in Rundle Mall.

The cancer survivor was awarded a key to the city after his three appearances in the Tour Down Under.

It is the latest in a string of incidents involving recipients of the key to the city.

City ratepayers last year partially covered the cost of Mr Yarwood's trip to the US because councillors expected him to deliver the key to Armstrong in Texas.

However, Armstrong was in Mexico when Mr Yarwood visited Texas.

The council later posted the key to him.

Fellow key recipient Cher this year attempted to sell her key to the city on eBay.

The city council is considering establishing a panel that would be charged with overseeing who is awarded the honour.

Two weeks ago, the US Anti-Doping Agency released a massive evidence file that said Armstrong was the leader in a long-running conspiracy to use banned drugs and blood transfusions to boost performance.