An $80,000 piece of public artwork vandalized in Civic late on Saturday night has been damaged three times in just less than two years.

Two young men allegedly ripped sections from the On the Staircase sculpture in Petrie Plaza in Civic about 10.40pm on Saturday.

The sculpture, which features four little men standing on a staircase, was installed in October 2009. The alleged vandals ripped at least one of those little men from the sculpture on Saturday night.

Since 2009, the structure has been knocked over by vandals, and two of the little men have been ripped off. The artist recast the men and they were reattached to the artwork last Tuesday after being reinforced with pins set into concrete.

Flood lighting and surveillance cameras were installed to monitor the site, and to deter anyone from damaging the artwork again. But less than 24 hours after they were installed, vandals struck again, trying unsuccessfully to rip the littlest man from the staircase. The vandals returned again the next night and attempted to pry the smallest and second smallest men from the structure.