*L* And thus they earned the wrath of the Roman Catholic Church for ever more.
Actually, when I looked him up on wikipedia, it appears there was only one recorded instance of someone taking offense. To quote: "In 1921 Walter Long of Gillingham, Dorset, objected to the giant's nudity and conducted a campaign to either convert it to a simple nude, or to cover its supposed obscenity with a leaf. Long's protest gained some support, including that of two bishops, and eventually reached the Home Office. The Home Office considered the protest to be in humour, though the chief constable responded to say the office could not act against a protected monument."
It also looks like, when the figure was sketched in the 1700s, everything was - um - "intact". But sketches in the mid- and late-1800s give the Giant a pair of long-johns, perhaps to spare Queen Victoria's blushes.
Finally, a Cerne Abbe giant beer was made and is now sold in the houses of Parliament, although the logo was censored because
some baroness complained. Wowsers.
Besides, the censorship is done in such a silly way ... the fig leaf covers not only the giant's lower regions, but also his stomach and his legs.
But it's only Blu-tacked on, so anyone can rip it off if they like. Britain's tax Pounds at work!
He's not the only giant on Britain's hills, of course. The
Long Man of Wilmington is another, though considerably less "rude". (I don't mean to "man-splain", or anything like that; I only just came across him).