Californian city Palm Springs has been ground zero in a long-running court and council saga about the towering, 15-tonne Forever Marilyn statue's current home on a street outside an art museum.

The statue is in Palm Springs seven years after becoming a popular feature of a 2016 blockbuster art exhibition in Bendigo celebrating Monroe.

It had been flown out from the United States in pieces and reconstructed in Rosalind Park where it stood for the duration of the Monroe exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery.

After the exhibition ended, the statue was dismantled in July 2016 and returned to the United States.

The piece recreates a famous image of Monroe from 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, shot six years after talent agent Johnny Hyde discovered Monroe at a Palm Springs resort.

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Forever Marilyn has sometimes attracted controversy over claims it objectifies and sexualises Monroe, rather than celebrating her talent and achievements.

It is now at the centre of a dispute dividing a Southern Californian community of 45,000 people, which draws in tourists for hot springs, stunning scenery and iconic mid-century modern architecture.

The latest battle is part of the fallout from the City of Palm Spring's 2022 decision to block traffic and install the statue on a street out the front of an art museum.

That raised the ire of a group of self-described "architectural preservationists" from public group the Committee to Relocate Marilyn.

"The current placement of the statue blatantly interferes with the view corridor and the drivable connection ... to the architecturally significant museum," group member Trina Turk said in a recent opinion piece for Palm Springs newspaper the Desert Sun.

She wanted the statue moved to another publicly accessible location.

The matter was enveloped in a legal battle, with a court in February ruling the City of Palm Springs had closed the street for too long.

The statue remained in place while the court deliberated on where it could or should be moved to.

(Story continues below photo gallery of the statue in Bendigo)

Not everyone wants the statue moved.

A group called Protect Our Marilyn - which includes the statue's owner PS Resorts - has pointed to a survey showing 82 per cent of Palm Springs' registered voters wanted Marilyn to remain.

"The current location of the Forever Marilyn statue is necessary because it draws visitors to downtown, which supports local businesses, restaurants, and the Palm Springs Art Museum," the group said on its website.

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Protect Our Marilyn is campaigning for a public vote to take place next March and local government authorities are understood to be vetting signatures on a petition that would pave the way for such a "ballot initiative".

The Committee to Relocate Marilyn appears to be ready for that fight.

"The fact remains that a ballot initiative alone cannot legally permanently close Museum Way," Ms Turk said in a recent update to a GoFundMe page.

The Advertiser contacted Protect Our Marilyn, the Committee to Relocate Marilyn and the City of Palm Springs for comment but none replied before deadline.

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