A family who had travelled around 116 miles to Liverpool say they left the city feeling "disheartened and down".
Having planned a day trip specifically to "hug" the bronze Cilla Black statue on Mathew Street, they were left disappointed after finding it was not outside the Cavern club.
The bronze statue was only unveiled in January 2017, with hundreds of people packing the narrow alleyway to witness it.
READ MORE: Why more than 100 women were crying on Formby beach
It is understood it has been taken away for maintenance.
The visitor, who had travelled to Liverpool with her partner and two children from Coventry to see the Cilla statue, expressed her disappointment.
She said: "We travelled from the Midlands to Liverpool for a day trip so I could hug the bronze Cilla and she had disappeared!
"All that was left was a pitiful flower and council barricade. There was no information about why she'd been removed.
"The remains of a metal tube in the ground made it look as if the statue had been sheared off.
"We left disheartened and down."
Cilla's eldest son Robert Willis, along with brothers Ben and Jack, commissioned the statue – which is one-and-a-fifth life size – as a thank you to Liverpool for the support they received after the entertainer's death in August 2015.
The bronze statue was created by city sculptors Emma Rodgers and Andy Edwards, who worked with experts and also with volunteer models to make sure the finished sculpture captured the "joyful spirit and energy" that Cilla had.
The statue's arms open wide pose also means people can have their photographs taken with it.
Cilla worked as a cloakroom girl and performed at the Cavern before finding international fame and fortune as a singer and then TV presenter.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
