It comes after a campaign to revert to the old name of Wagga Rural Referral Hospital prompted a public survey from Murrumbidgee Local Health District.

The sign was to be restored and reused within the hospital, according to hospital director Helen Cooper.

“Staff, the local health advisory committee and both external and internal users of the sign were consulted and surveyed,” Ms Cooper said.

“The feedback received was to remove the structure and to restore the old sign and place it in a staff amenities area due to its historical significance.

“The staff member who made the sign 40 years ago, and who still works for the health service, supported the sign being removed and restored.”

Ms Cooper said no other signs were being erected in its place.

The upgrade of Wagga’s public hospital saw it elevated from “base hospital” to “referral hospital” status, leading Wagga woman Catherine Pierce to start a petition to reverse the name change.

Despite the removal of the old sign, Ms Pierce remained confident the city’s public hospital would soon bear its former name once more.