Gigantic golden statue of Chairman Mao pulled down in China

A 37 metre high gold-painted statue of Chairman Mao in the Chinese countryside has been removed, mere days after it was erected, state media report.

An official at Zhushigang village, where the statue was located, said that it had not been registered and approved, and had now been removed, People's Daily reported.

Land resource officials at Tongxu county also confirmed the removal of the statue to the newspaper, but said that they were not clear why it was removed.

The giant statue of the late communist leader, on farmland in Henan's Tongxu county, is reported to have cost nearly 3 million yuan. It was reportedly paid for by local businessmen and villagers, and was built as a homage to Chairman Mao.

The statue was reportedly paid for by local businessmen and villagers, and was built as a homage to Chairman Mao.

Devastating news: giant golden Chairman Mao statue torn down in Henan province, locals say https://t.co/Y8T370KSeM pic.twitter.com/SDnkvQmAYN

— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) January 8, 2016

However, it sparked an outpouring of criticism and ridicule online, with some people arguing that it wasted resources and was located at an inappropriate location.

The Henan province was one of the regions worst hit by China’s great famine in the 1950s, a catastrophe that claimed tens of millions of lives that was caused by Mao’s “great lepa forward” – a bid for breakneck industrialisation.

In his seminal book on the famine, Tombstone, Chinese writer Yang Jisheng described Henan as the epicentre of the disaster, and estimated that 3 million people starved to death there.

However, Mao Zedong is still revered by many in China, and President Xi Jinping, has praised him as a "great figure".

Xi has also attempted to centralise power in China's presidency, and has used Mao's legacy to build support, although admitting that the former leader made "mistakes".