CHARLOTTE, N.C. So it appears the rumors of the demise of a sand sculpture in the likeness of President Barack Obama have been a bit exaggerated.

The Washington Times reported Saturday that heavy rains had damaged the sculpture at BlackFinn Saloon in uptown Charlotte, which was described as “an ominous beginning to what many fear is a plagued convention.” The headline of the post on the Inside Politics blog stated “Heavy rains wash away ’Mount Obama’ in Charlotte.”

To be fair, there is a little truth to the post. Saturday’s afternoon rain storm did cause some damage to the 15.5-ton sculpture. The water made the sand look like it had “melted” a portion of the bust and arm, said Nora Battle, a spokeswoman for the Myrtle Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, which commissioned the sculpture.

But Battle said sculptors still in the area were able to repair the piece within 45 minutes. On Sunday morning, the sculpture was still on display showing only what a photographer described as some signs of “rain acne” on the face. But even that was repaired by 11 a.m.

It took five sculptors from Team Sandtastic of Sarasota, Fla., three days to build the sculpture. Battle said a little rain can help to solidify the artwork but “obviously the torrential rain that came through yesterday is not good.”

Myrtle Beach, which is located about 175 miles from Charlotte, is the top-visited beach in the Carolinas. Last year, 1.3 million visitors traveled to the beach from the Queen City, Battle said.

The Myrtle Beach tourism organization has done many political and other sculptures in the past, and this is the second to include a likeness of Obama. The first was made in 2008 for a debate for the Democratic Party’s primary in Myrtle Beach.

Earlier this year, the organization did one before a Republican presidential primary. Mark Hames contributed.