Lightning blows breasts off NT's iconic Venus de Milo statue

Tom Findlay shows off the stone breasts which survived an 8m fall when struck by lightning. Picture: Michael Franchi Source:Northern Territory News

A LIGHTNING strike has blown the breasts off one man's iconic tribute to Northern Territory women. Literally.

Stonemasonry boss Tom Finlay, 48, was standing 50m from his voluptuous hand-carved Venus de Milo when a flash of white light and an "almighty kaboom" sent stone flying through the air, The NT News reports.

Mr Finlay - who carved the statue as a tributeb to NT women - said he was amazed her 30kg breasts had survived the phenomenon.

"There was a clap of thunder and the sculpture blew up like a rocket-launcher had hit it," he said.

All that is left of the original sculpture is below the hips. Picture: Michael Franchi

"Everything disintegrated but the breasts - all that's left is what's under her hips," he added.

The 1.5m high sculpture, made of local porcelanite, was perched on a 6m steel reinforced column.

Shattered stone was strewn about the small courtyard at Finlay's Stonemasonry - near the Stuart Hwy, at Yarrawonga - where the top half of the headless Venus was obliterated about on Friday.

Tom Findlay's first sculpture, of Venus, before it was destoyed by lightning.

But her breasts withstood the 8m drop on to the stone mural below. Only one nipple was damaged.

Mr Finlay said he had not yet decided the fate of the surviving breasts.

"I might mount (the breasts) and hang them in my office."

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