TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Administrative Enforcement Agency in Kaohsiung City will remove a sculpture that was found highly similar to a work by Japanese ceramic artist Kino Satoshi, reports said Wednesday (Oct. 19).

A panel of experts concluded that both works share a high level of similarity, leading to the decision to take down the sculpture in Kaohsiung. However, Kino hoped both the author of the work and the agency would apologize to him, CNA reported.

The curvy metal sculpture by Tsai Wen-hsiang (蔡文祥), titled “Fairness, Justice and Harmony,” won a tender by the Ministry of Culture in 2017 to be installed outside the MOJ agency. While admitting the two works looked similar, Tsai said the materials and structure were different.

When Kino found out about Tsai’s art last month, he expressed astonishment at the resemblance with his own ceramic piece “Oroshi-Typhoon,” which he completed in 2015 and won an award in Taiwan the following year.

Three members of the investigative committee judged Tsai’s sculpture to be a case of “plagiarism,” while five members said a more thorough probe was necessary, though there was a strong resemblance between the two. The ninth member of the committee concluded in favor of a strong resemblance, the report said.

The agency said the sculpture had been covered up in preparation for its removal, while it would also file for compensation from Tsai’s company. Kino expressed concern that the work might only be removed and not destroyed, but displayed elsewhere.