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The sculpture of the sea lion matriarch affectionately known as “Mum” and her pup has been removed from St Clair Esplanade for minor repairs.
The work was estimated to cost about $10,000 and involved “extensive sanding and preparation, filling of degraded fibreglass areas and a complete re-painting”, a Dunedin City Council spokesman said.
“At some stage, someone repainted the smaller sea lion and other areas with house paint, which is being completely removed.”
The polyurethane and fibreglass statue, sculpted by local artist Bryn Jones, was unveiled in 2015.
The pair would be repainted in colours originally used by the artist.
In late 1993, Mum became the first sea lion in more than 100 years to give birth on the mainland.
Before then, New Zealand sea lions had been hunted to extinction on the mainland and bred only in the Subantarctic Islands.
Her descendants will return to Otago’s coast in the coming months for breeding season.