The artist behind the chilling face of internet scare scam 'Momo' says the sculpture has been destroyed.
Keisuke Aiso, 43, created the model, which he called 'Mother Bird,' in 2016. It was based off a Japanese ghost story about a mother who dies and comes back as a bird woman to haunt the earth.
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Mr Aiso told The Sun he created the piece to scare people.
"When I created the piece I will be honest I had every intention to scare people."
The challenge has recently made headlines after images of Mr Aiso's creation reportedly appeared in the middle of children's videos on Youtube, threatening the children and their parents.
Mr Aiso condemned the use of his work to scare children.
"People do not know if it is true or not but apparently the children have been affected and I do feel a little responsible for it.
"I feel like I am in trouble but it's all out of my hands," he told The Sun.
He said parents could reassure their kids that Momo is dead, as he threw out the work last year.
"It was never meant to last, it was rotten and I threw it away. The children can be reassured Momo is dead - she doesn't exist and the curse is gone."
Mr Aiso told The Sun that he and other associated artists had received death threats due to their links to the Momo challenge.
"Another artist was mistaken for the creator and she has received death threats and disturbing messages online about the work," he said.
"I feel bad for her, but now I am getting the messages too. They say I will kill you and you should die, in both English and Japanese."
Youtube claimed last week they'd had no reports of the Momo character showing up in children's videos, and that the challenge may have been a hoax.
Newshub.
