A two-metre Norwegian copy of the 38-metre-high Christ the Redeemer statue towering over Rio de Janeiro has disappeared without a trace, the NRK national broadcaster reported.
The Jesus figure was erected in 1999 on Sukkertoppen ("Sugar peak") in Storemolla in Lofoten mountains as part of an art project and has since become a local landmark and a popular tourist destination, despite its hard-to-reach location.
However, a cabin guest who recently visited the area has reported its disappearance.
"It is not so easily accessible, so it is a bit strange," Lofoten's travel director Elisabeth Dreyer told NRK. "People are going to look for it. I hope they find it and that they will be able to rebuild it," Dreyer added.
One theory is the statue has been toppled by heavy storms. However, over the past decades, the Jesus figure has endured numerous bouts of extreme weather.
Svein Ingvoll Pedersen, the leader of the Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF), stressed that it so far hasn't been possible to check the vicinity.
"There is very rough terrain with a lot of snow at the time being. Therefore, it hasn't been possible to send someone up," Pedersen told NRK, asking tourists for tips.
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On NRK's Facebook page, Norwergians were quick to show their wit.
"Have you ever heard of the Ascension?" one user inquired.
"It turned out that it's so cold here up north that he decided to move back to Rio," another suggested.
"Tired of all the stones, he went for a booze," another commenter wrote.
"Probably a sign from Odin. He's grown tired of this mindless adoration of this tramp from the Middle East," yet another man quipped.
Some went even so far as to suggest that Jesus will be replaced by a giant statue of Prophet Mohammed as a tongue-in-cheek mockery of Norway's political correctness.
A local tourist page markets the Jesus statue with the following selling point: "You don't have to go to Brazil to see the Christ the Redeemer".
Until the Lofoten Jesus reappears, however, this remains the only option.
