MONROE — A well-recognized, large religious statue depicting Jesus Christ erected in front of Solid Rock Church will soon get a facelift.

The King of Kings statue at the church at 904 N. Union Road will be power cleaned and repainted, said Ron Carter, administrator at Solid Rock. The work is needed to address exposure from the elements, he said.

It will take 60 gallons of white paint to complete the job.

“Before you put on a fresh coat of paint, the surface has to be cleaned. There’s a lot of atmospheric dirt on it from exposure to the elements,” Carter said.

The work, which will take three to four weeks to complete, also will include conducting repairs to the skin of the structure at the base of the statue.

“Every year, we have a little bit of repair to do at the base of the statue where the water forms into ice and it puts some pressure on that area. So there’s always a little bit of repair work to do in that area,” he said.

Though work on the base is conducted annually, this is the first time the statue has been repainted since it was built in the summer of 2004.

The statue, which is seen by motorists traveling along Interstate 75 in Monroe, continues to accumulate nicknames. It has been called “Touchdown Jesus” because the arms and hands are raised upward, a motion often made when a football touchdown is scored. It has also been called “Big Butter Jesus” after comedian Heywood Banks referred to it as such and created a song about the statue, which he performed on radio’s “The Bob and Tom Show.”

The King of Kings statue is made out of steel and covered with a fiberglass material.

“Big Butter Jesus” was a popular Google.com search term in early March, according to Google trends. The trending topic spurred a number of media outlets to post photos and stories about the King of Kings statue on their Web sites.