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The sculptor behind Wall Street's famous Charging Bull statue has died aged 80, reports say.

Friends of Arturo Di Modica told Italian media that the sculptor died in his home town of Vittoria, Sicily. He had been fighting cancer for many years, La Repubblica reported.

The bull was originally installed in New York in 1989 without permission.

It was designed to represent the "strength and power of the American people" after the 1987 market crash.

Police seized the 7,100 pound (3,200 kg) bronze statue from its position outside the New York Stock Exchange. But following a public outcry, city officials allowed it to be reinstalled days later in the heart of Manhattan's financial district.

It has gone on to become one of the most recognisable images of New York, and a major tourist attraction.

In recent years, Di Modica opposed the temporary installation of another now famous statue, called Fearless Girl, opposite the bull.

Di Modica complained at the time that his bull was meant to embody "strength, power and love", and that having Fearless Girl - designed to call attention to gender inequality and the pay gap in the corporate world - face off against it turned its message into something negative.

Other notable works by Di Modica include marble pieces exhibited at the Rockefeller Center, works in bronze at Castle Clinton National Monument, and a bronze horse exhibited in the Lincoln Center, his biography on chargingbull.com says.