An image of the Messiah — or a rough approximation thereof —  first appeared amid the chipped paintwork of Warrnambool’s Irish pub in November 2010, attracting national media attention.

It was quickly protected by perspex and drew a small number of curious onlookers.

But the second coming of the Lord and Saviour is over, with a new paint job set to wipe Jesus’ silhouette off the Seanchai’s outside wall.

Bar manager Joshua O’Dowd said the owners considered keeping Christ’s likeness, but ultimately decided against it.

“They were going to keep it but they decided to paint over it in order to give the pub a new lease of life,” he said. 

“We’re just repainting the facade and giving the place a bit of a touch up inside so people know there are new owners and new management.

“It’s still an Irish pub and it will still be the Seanchai.

“But Jesus will have to make room for the young ’uns.”

Mr O’Dowd said some of the regulars like to tell tales of how Jesus appeared on the pub’s front wall and a collection of news clippings from the time of his appearance still takes pride of place on the back wall of the venue.