Swing and a miss: US college removes pendulum sculpture after too many students try to recreate Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball' video

A university in the US has been forced to remove an artistic sculpture of a pendulum because too many of its students were using it to recreate Miley Cyrus' new "Wrecking Ball" video.

The monument, a large swinging steel ball designed to draw geometric shapes in the sand below it, has been removed fom Grand Valley State University's Michigan campus because it posed a potential safety risk to students queuing up to imitate their idol.

In the video, Miley swings on huge pendulum of her own in various stages of undress. Some students have even posted videos of themselves on social media swinging naked from the ball.

The sculpture was removed on Tuesday morning because authorities were worried it wouldn't be able to support the weight of all the students swinging off it.

Tim Thimmesch, who is responsible for GVSU's facilities services, confirmed that the pendulum had been removed to protect the safety of students, but added that he hoped its removal would be temporary.

He said: “We are reassessing the safety and structural integrity of the current installation and site. Hopefully the pendulum can be reinstalled at that location or we can find another suitable location on campus so people can enjoy it as a piece of art and stay safe.”

The piece itself was created in 1973 by acclaimed American sculptor Dale Eldred, and incorporates a spike designed to draw patterns in a sandpit. It had been in place outside GVSU's science facility for 18 years. Inevitably, a Twitter account for the sculpture has already attracted more than 1,100 followers.

"Wrecking Ball" is the second single Cyrus' forthcoming album "Bangerz". Its video, in which she licks a hammer when not swinging on her ball, went viral and has so far been watched 118m times on YouTube.

See below for two GVSU students' reinterpretation of "Wrecking Ball".