The artwork sits in the Piazza Rita Levi-Montalcini - a Square named after the 1986 Nobel prize-winning Italian scientist honoured for her work in neurobiology and the discovery of the nerve growth factor.

The sculpture was created by students from the Luigi Rosso art school in Monopoli, as part of several instalments in a series commissioned by the mayor for a town redevelopment project, The Guardian reports.

Since its installation, it has been ridiculed on social media.

Several have deemed it “too provocative”, with one Twitter user asking: “Who could have inspired this? Kim Kardashian?”

Some were less fussed about the mermaid and saw it as an opportunity for the town to be put on the map.