A version of Copenhagen's famed statue of The Little Mermaid that has stood in a riverside park in a Michigan city since 1994 may be removed following a claim it's an illegal replica.

The city of Greenville was notified about the statue in a letter from the Artists Rights Society in New York representing the estate of Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen, The Daily News reported.

Greenville officials said their 75cm statue along the Flat River in Tower Riverside Park in the United States was intended to be an interpretation of the original.

It was made by Lakeview artist Steve Willison.

Eriksen's 1.5m statue of The Little Mermaid, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, was unveiled in 1913.

The statue, which sits on a rock in Copenhagen Harbour, is one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions.

GREENVILLE AP