A bronze statue of Elon Musk has been unveiled in New York City to mark his 50th birthday – but the Twitter reaction is no party.

The life-size sculpture was dropped off in Manhattan on Monday by investing website Public.com, which tweeted: “Love or hate him, @elonmusk turns 50 today. We’re giving away 100 mini Elon statues. What you do with yours is up to you.”

It also posted an image of it, saying: “And because Elon’s ambition (and maybe ego) is definitely not miniature, we dropped a life-sized statue on 14th St and The High Line stairs in NYC. Go say hi.”

That statue is going to be in pieces before the end of the week.

However, the response from social media users was fierce, suggesting it may not be safe – with even calls for the head to come off.

“Thank you for installing this new public toilet,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Wow thanks a giant ugly statue no one asked for,” another wrote.

Reminds me of this pic.twitter.com/IWNtigivv0

“The worst statue ive ever seen for one of the worst people alive. Perfect,” said another.

One even posted an image of an unidentified statue – next to another with the head missing, with the caption: “Re-enact.”

“Very close to the Hudson River, very convenient,” tweeted one user, while another wrote, “would be a shame if someone threw tomatoes at it and cause irreversible corrosion”.

One person added: “That statue is going to be in pieces before the end of the week.”

Re-enact pic.twitter.com/bphcHstFZe

“Reminds me of this,” tweeted another, with an image of the 2017 bust of Cristiano Ronaldo which was ridiculed online at the time for failing to resemble the Portuguese footballer.

Musk, who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, has become one of the wealthiest people in the world thanks to the value of his electric car company Tesla. He has an estimated net worth of around $184bn (£132bn).

Happy birthday ⁦@elonmusk⁩ 🎂🎉 Thank you for this wonderful day 50 years ago. You have brought me great joy. Lots of love ❤️❤️❤️ #HappyBirthdayElonMusk now trending 🙌🙏 pic.twitter.com/xro3QwQD1z

His mother, Maye Musk, posted a photograph of the Tesla and SpaceX tycoon as a baby on Twitter on Monday as he celebrated the milestone birthday.

The billionaire responded with the red loveheart emoji.

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