The Danish capital of Copenhagen may make a decision to move its famous mermaid statue a few meters offshore to avoid vandalization, Danish press reports reaching here said Wednesday.

The 125 centimeter-high bronze sculpture, based on one of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale figures, has been sitting at the edge of the Copenhagen harbor since 1913.

A decision will be made later this year on whether she would be moved further from the shoreline, officials of the city's roads and parks department said.

The mermaid, which can easily be reached by stepping on a concrete platform and rocks that surround her, attracts some 1 million tourists from around the world and is also a target of vandalism.

Tourists often climb on the body of the mermaid, officials said.

Once she was even beheaded, and was only able to be repaired because the sculptor creating her was still alive.

According to Andersen's fairy tale, the mermaid was a mythical sea king's daughter who fell in love with a prince and had to wait for 300 years to become a human.

Source: Xinhua