Sep 18, 2013 09:17 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Michigan was forced to remove a long-standing hanging sculpture after students were found imitating Miley Cyrus' latest 'Wrecking Ball' music video, albeit naked.

According to the media reports, at least one student photographed himself riding it naked.

The University officials stated that the sculpture closely resembled the wrecking ball used in the video but was not  strong enough to bear the extra weight students were exerting upon it. To make sure it doesn't hurt students, the officials removed the structure.

"We really do need to verify the structural integrity right now, and consider the safety ramifications and look whether there's a better way to install it," said Tim Thimmesch, associate vice president of facilities services.

According to Mlive, Miley's explicit video shows the pop star smash concrete with a sledge hammer and swing nude from a large, metal wrecking ball. The video has garnered more than 100 millions views on YouTube.

Thimmesch said that the steel ball, which hung from about a 15-feet of large metal chain, had been placed outside the Seymour and Esther Padnos Hall of Science 18 years ago. It has now been shifted to a storage unit off campus. It will remain there until the university finds another suitable location for it.

"We are reassessing the safety and structural integrity of the current installation and site," Thimmesch said. "Hopefully the pendulum can be reinstalled at that location or we can find another suitable location on campus so people can enjoy it as a piece of art and stay safe."

Officials said that the sculpture was used as a swing quite often by the students in the past , but an increasing craze was observed following the release of Miley's video.

The students have created a Twitter account dedicated to the pendulum art piece, entitled 'GVSU Wrecking Ball' to post related updates; created numerous parodies of the video and recorded themselves swinging nude to the hit song.

Thimmesch said that they are simply 'college students being college students,' but students' safety remains a foremost priority, forever.

On Tuesday night, the day the university decided to remove the sculpture, several students gathered behind the Seymour and Esther Padnos Hall of Science, to protest the removal. They claimed that the university simply overreacted.

"Maybe they should have put a sign in front of it," said Emily Hauxwell, a freshman psychology major. "But taking it down? It's kind of a staple here."

"I think the college overreacted," said Geselamn, a freshman who's studying pre-med. "They probably should have just yelled at them or put signs up."

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