The absence of government approval has apparently caused the demolition of a giant gold painted statue of Communist China’s founding father Mao Zedong.

The AFP news agency is citing the People’s Net, a news portal linked with People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China (CPC), that the $460,000 structure has been destroyed. The local government had apparently “not registered” or approved the project.

Pictures circulating online showed a gaping hole in the rear of Mao’s massive golden torso, and his head shrouded in black.

Several local entrepreneurs reportedly funded the project which was completed in December, following nine months of labour.

The South China Morning Post had earlier reported that the 36 meter high statue made of concrete and steel had been built on a plot of vacant land in Tongxu county near Kaifeng in Henan province.