Repair work is underway on Rio de Janeiro’s landmark Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue, the world’s largest Art Deco statue which was damaged by lightning strikes this month.

The iconic statue presides over Rio, standing 38 meters on a mountaintop.  It’s been hit by lightning numerous times in the past, but two recent strikes prompted the repair mission.  Last week, a jolt damaged the right thumb during a storm that had one of the highest numbers of lightning strikes recorded in Brazil since the country began monitoring storms in 1999.  And in December two more hits chipped a finger and the statue’s head.

Officials say they will install more lightning rods on the statue to try to prevent future damage.  The repairs will take about four months to complete, and the statue will remain open through the project.

Cristo Redentor was inaugurated on 12 October 1931 on top of Rio's Mount Corcovado, and receives some 2 million visitors a year.