In February, Grantham Museum manager Jayne Robb was suspended for "erroneously" claiming the museum been offered a white marble statue of Margaret Thatcher, which was unveiled by the former prime minister in 2002.

BBC: Grantham Labour group calls for Thatcher statue in town

By the time he died, blind and afflicted by various ailments, he had become so much of a national institution that his wish to be buried in Westminster Abbey was instantly granted, with a large marble statue topping his grave.

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Dominating the north gallery as the Mozia Charioteer dominates the south is a life-size limestone marble statue of the woodland diety Priapos, as powerfully hulking and oversexed as the Charioteer is suave and teasingly erotic.

WSJ: Sicily's Proud Past | Sicily: Art and Invention Between Greece and Rome | J. Paul Getty Museum By David Littlejohn

In the marble-lined lobby, a magnificent 19th-century statue of the then Duke of Norfolk in garter robes suggests that Sheffield's taste for expensive monuments has a long history.

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She said a "spectacular" spot had been picked out for the eight-foot high marble statue in the city hall and its citizens would have no trouble recalling the former Tory leader because they were largely of retirement age.

BBC: Thatcher statue unveiled