WELLINGTON, New Zealand >> Perched on two fingers on the roof of an art gallery, the giant sculpture of a hand has loomed over the city of Wellington, New Zealand, for five years, provoking controversy and myriad emotions.

Named Quasi, the 16-foot creation of Australia-based sculptor Ronnie van Hout bears an unsmiling human face — because why not?

Some found it disturbing, some loved it. But it will soon be moot. Quasi is slated to be removed from the roof of City Gallery this week and taken to a new home, the gallery said Wednesday.

“This is either a great day for Wellington or a terrible day for Wellington and there’s not much view in between,” said Ben McNulty, a city council member in New Zealand’s capitol city.

Quasi is made of steel, polystyrene and resin, and was based on scans of van Hout’s hand and face. It was named in part for Quasimodo, the bellringer in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.”

Hence the male gender some have attributed to Quasi.

Quasi first graced — or haunted — an art gallery in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2016 but proved polarizing. It was the subject of an op ed in the local newspaper listing reasons the sculpture “must go,” including claims that one of its outstretched fingers “appears to be inappropriately and belligerently pointing at pedestrians and office workers.”

“Perhaps the monster just wants to be loved?” van Hout responded at the time.

In 2019, Quasi was installed in Wellington, where he grew over time on its residents.

“He arrived and I won’t say the city unanimously hated him but I reckon 80% were like, ‘What is this monster? What have we done?’” McNulty said.

“But I think that over time there’s been a bit of a softening, there’s sort of a pro-Quasi group, which I consider myself part of,” he added.