However, the Advertiser can reveal the subject portrayed at the site of the former Clyde Street School is Lady Helen – after whom Helensburgh was named.

The £15,000 artwork also features the town’s skyline underneath, although as Argyll and Bute Council point out, like any piece of art, it is open to interpretation.

The confusion over the new addition on the £8.3 million office development sparked a flurry of online speculation amongst locals – which included comparisons to the cartoon character Princess Fiona from Shrek and even Camilla, Duchess of Rothesay, who has visited the town several times.

Following the work’s installation last Friday, Nigel Millar, secretary of Helensburgh Community Council, raised the issue at Tuesday’s meeting of the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee.

He said they welcomed ‘distinctive art’ – but no-one seemed to know who the woman was.

Mr Millar said: “Anything that goes on the building we see should be relevant. We have had quite a few questions about this, and we don’t know who it is.” Cllr George Freeman asked council officers whom the piece was to represent before being told Lady Helen in response.

He added: “There was a suggestion it could be linked to the Templeton family. As we are aware there was money from the Templeton fund.

“When it is such a high-profile building I would have expected the committee to be consulted.” Councillor Vivien Dance said: “We have all been asked the same question, the phone lines and emails were fairly hot after it was put up. The thing is that no-one seems to know.” Councillor Aileen Morton told the Advertiser: “When I saw the sculpture go up last week I have to admit it wasn’t what I had expected. Having previously looked at the images created as part of the planning application I had assumed the art work would be flat to the building and hadn’t expected a 3D sculpture.

“It’s clearly prompting lots of comment around the town which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned – after all a piece of art should provoke an opinion, not simply blend into the background.” A spokesman for Argyll and Bute Council said: “The artwork is intended to represent Lady Helen, after whom Helensburgh was named, with the town’s skyline along the bottom, although like any piece of art it is open to interpretation.

“It was designed by John McKenna, a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, and was paid for by a £15,000 donation from the Templeton Fund.” The Turnberry-based sculptor was commissioned to produce the main artwork on the Cunard Line transatlantic liner, Queen Mary 2, and also to create the staircase feature in the sister ship Queen Victoria.

McKenna’s commissions also include statues of footballers, Jock Stein at Celtic Park and Jimmy Johnstone, in the Jimmy Johnstone Memorial Garden, Old Edinburgh Road, View Park, Lanarkshire.