A HUGE steel structure designed to test the skin of the new Turner Contemporary against the elements has fallen foul of the sea -- less than 48 hours after it was installed.

The 18-feet high obelisk was lifted into place on Saturday afternoon. High winds had delayed the installation by 24 hours.

By Monday morning the structure had been blown onto its side by strong waves. At high tide the sail-shaped creation was no longer visible.

A team of experts was dispatched from ship builders Harland and Woolf in Belfast, which built and installed the structure.

Project manager Mike Evans said it was too early to say why the obelisk had tipped over, but the bolts holding it to the concrete foundations appeared to have sheared.

A statement from the gallery said: "Turner Contemporary is aware there is a difficulty with the obelisk which went up on Margate beach on Saturday.

"We have experts investigating what has happened and will let everyone know as soon as we find out ourselves.

"The key people involved in placing this test structure in the sea are on their way to Margate now.

"In the mean time, we can reassure everyone that whatever happens to the obelisk, it does not affect the Turner Contemporary project.

"This was a test structure, and its whole purpose is to test.

"We do not yet know what we will learn from what has happened but it does not affect the position of the project.

"We are as puzzled as anyone as to what has happened, and until we get feedback from our expert engineers, it would be unhelpful to speculate any further about it."