PARIS — It sounded like an April Fool’s joke. A French town toppling a bust of Marianne, the symbolic heroine of the French Revolution, because she was too … buxom?

In a country where breasts have pride of place in movies, on beaches and, more bizarrely, yogurt advertisements, one well-endowed model nevertheless got the chop after causing blushes.

France 3 television reported last week that a bust of Marianne that graced the town hall of Neuville-en-Ferrain near the northern city of Lille for two years had been knocked off her pedestal after local officials decided her proportions were too generous.

Defending the decision — his arms folded across his chest — Mayor Gerard Codron told France 3: “”We had to make a decision and avoid the criticisms that were regularly expressed during ceremonies with regard to this Marianne.””

“”So we decided to change the Marianne,”” he said, adding with a chuckle: “”Laetitia Casta took over!””

Casta, a French model whose silhouette is, ironically, usually described as curvy, was chosen as the template for the new Marianne.

Like her predecessor the new Marianne is also shown in a low-cut dress and wearing a Phrygian cap, but her chest is noticeably flatter.

Catherine Lamacque, the artist who produced the discarded version, was quoted as saying the decision was “”absurd”” and that she had deliberately made the breasts big “”to symbolize the generosity of the Republic.””

Indeed, most representations of Marianne, who was immortalized bare-breasted and holding a French flag in a Delacroix painting “”Liberty leading the People,”” usually depict her as a voluptuous, bountiful figure.

Reacting to the change, an elderly man in Neuville-en-Ferrain told France 3: “”I think people are stupid, that’s all. Frankly, better nice breasts than none at all.””