A sculpture of a man sleepwalking in his pants which has provoked some concern on an all-female college campus has been vandalised.

The fibreglass sculpture - entitled Sleepwalker - was defaced with yellow paint on its face, left arm, left leg, and a foot. It was one of several properties at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, to be vandalised, and campus authorities are investigating.

Some students at the women's college had criticised the statue as threatening and demanded that it be removed, but it is part of a larger exhibit by sculptor Tony Matelli at a campus museum, and is scheduled to stay until July.