By Frank Landry

Angry members of the city's Hindu community will get their wish.

Four statues depicting the Lord Ganesha in controversial poses - including two where his genitals are exposed and another where he's decapitated - will be removed from in front of the Shaw Conference Centre later this month, say officials.

The statues of the elephant-faced god were part of a year-long art exhibit on Jasper Avenue and were slated to be returned to the artist this fall.

"They'll be coming down later this month," said Linda Wedman, executive director of the Art and Design in Public Places Program, which sponsored the display, along with the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and the Shaw Conference Centre.

Both the EEDC and the Shaw are owned by the city.

"It was always going to come down this fall. It was just a matter of keying the dates," Wedman said.

The artist, Ryan McCourt, was awarded $10,000 for the pieces, a portion of which came from taxpayer dollars. His entry, titled Will and Representation, was selected after a call went out in September 2006 for submissions from Edmonton-area artists.

Members of the Hindu community fired off an angry letter to Mayor Stephen Mandel and members of council this week, claiming the statues were "a disrespectful treatment of a most beloved and cherished Hindu god."

They demanded the statues be removed immediately.

Aran Veylan, a member of the city's Hindu community who signed the letter of protest, said the statues only came to the attention of many Hindus recently. That's when they started organizing.

"This is tax dollars, literally public money," he said. "It is presented as something that is endorsed by the city."

In the letter, the Hindu community also asked the city to take steps to ensure "no other religious community suffers the indignity of witnessing their cherished icons denigrated in public display."

It was accompanied by a petition signed by more than 700 people.

Mandel said he was unaware of the display until yesterday, when he asked that it be removed as quickly as possible. "When I talked to EEDC, they said it's coming down this month, I said, 'Get it down now,' " he told Sun Media.

He said it requires a crane, which takes time to arrange.

Coun. Karen Leibovici said the city needs a procedure to make sure future art exhibits funded with public dollars don't insult minority groups.

Lisanne Lewis, spokesman for the Shaw, said the conference centre has received both positive and negative feedback about the display. Some people even offered to buy the pieces, she said.