Simbach, Germany  -  A modern statue on Germany's south-east border has triggered controversy, with some people concerned on Wednesday that the figure is showing a bare backside to Austria.

Sculpted by local man Dominik Dengl and unveiled Saturday, the apparently naked male riding a giant fish is a personification of the Inn River which marks the border. He is named Aenus, the Latin term for the river.

Richard Findl, mayor of the town of Simbach am Inn, which paid for the bronze artwork next to a bridge, rejected the criticism of the past four days, saying beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

But a reader survey by the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse found nearly half of respondents found the sculpture "ugly" and were embarrassed that the male's genitals were prominent from the front and that his buttocks faced Braunau, the nearest Austrian city. (dpa)