A video showing what the Statue of Liberty might look like if it were polished has gone viral for its imagination, but experts told Newsweek that such a move would be damaging in reality.

The video , which was AI-generated, quickly racked up over 10 million views on X, showing the statue being returned to a shiny bronze rather than its oxidized green.

However, experts have said the green coating is a protective layer and that polishing it away would damage the structure and leave it exposed to the wear and tear of the ocean environment.

Erika Doss, the chair in art history professorship at the University of Texas' Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History, told Newsweek : "The green patina is what protects the statue's very, very thin copper skin.

"And it is very, very thin: a t

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