POKROV, July 1 (RIA Novosti) - The world's first monument to chocolate, depicting a bronze fairy holding a bar of chocolate, was unveiled in Central Russia's Vladimir Region on Wednesday.

The three-meter-high sculpture is located near the chocolate museum in the town of Pokrov.

"I was inspired by chocolate - I ate a lot of it and used it as a model. I thought the monument should represent a fairy, it was an attempt to add a touch of enigma and mystique to it," the sculptor, Ilya Shanin, said.

He said it took him a year and a half to finish the sculpture.

The sculpture was ordered by the Kraft Foods chocolate factory, the town's main employer, which produces around 17% of all Russian chocolate. According to the company, the statue in Pokrov is the world's only monument devoted to chocolate.

A number of unusual monuments dedicated to food have been erected in Russia and neighboring countries in recent years.

A caned fish sculpture was created in Latvian city of Liepaja, one of the world's main producers of sprats. A monument to cabbage has been installed in the West Siberian city of Tomsk, and a sculpture of the famous Soviet-era Druzhba processed cheese was recently unveiled in Moscow.

Borovsk, a city to the south-west of Moscow, has a spaghetti sculpture, which is said to symbolize worldwide unity. A monument to Siberia's most famous dish, pelmeni, has been created in northwestern Siberia.