Damien Hirst's Charity sculpture arrives in Bristol

A 22ft (6.7m) Damien Hirst statue has been hoisted on to Bristol's Royal West of England Academy

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A 22ft (6.7m) high statue by Damien Hirst has been hoisted on to the reinforced balcony of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol.

The 3.5-tonne statue is based on the "collection box girl with teddy bear and leg in callipers" used by a charity formerly known as the Spastics Society.

Bristol-born Hirst has "scuffed her appearance and burgled her charity box" as a comment on social injustice.

The statue will remain on the Clifton gallery until the end of May 2012.

The painted bronze statue, called Charity, is the creation of headline-grabbing conceptual artist Damien Hirst, whose creations include the infamous "pickled shark" suspended in formaldehyde and a skull encrusted in diamonds.

The statue formed part of the Romance in the Age of Uncertain Charity exhibition and was originally installed outside London's White Cube gallery in 2003.

A familiar sight in the 1960s and 70s, the "charity box girl" fell out of favour in the 1980s as a "disempowering image of pity".

The RWA said it was "thrilled to host this landmark".