NEW YORK - A controversial mural on the Lower East Side has been removed. 

The giant mural of a penis on the side of a building was painted over Wednesday after days of community backlash.  

The four-story tall painting was painted on the side of an apartment building on Broome Street between Forsyth and Eldridge on Christmas Eve.

Carolina Falkholt, the Swedish graffiti artist who painted the mural, stood by her work.

She wrote on her Instagram page that she has never heard so much laughter and seen so many happy faces while painting.