Maria Shriver allegedly scrubbed from Arnold Schwarzenegger's official portrait

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled his official portrait this week in the state Capitol, but noticeably missing from the painting was the image of his estranged wife Maria Shriver.

The piece in question was painted by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein years ago when Schwarzenegger was still in office and prominently features the actor over a blue background. Some say it used to also feature Shiver's face on a lapel pin.

The portrait sat in the actor's office for four years while he was governor, and has been in his production office in Southern California ever since. Those who were familiar with the work of art noticed the difference when the portrait was unveiled Monday.

"Whoever touched it up did not do a very good job," Richard Granis, a tour guide at the state Capitol in Sacramento, told the New York Post. "It was softball sized, right there on his left lapel."

Schwarzenegger's former assistant, Clay Russell, said he didn't "blame" the former governor for having Shriver removed from the painting.

"Considering everything, it's not that odd," he said. "It would have been weirder if it was already up and he had removed it."

The lapel where Shiver's face used to appear has now been covered with a smudge of blue paint.

Shriver and Schwarzenegger married in 1986 and have four children together. The couple had a very public fallout and announced their separation after 25 years together in 2011 after the actor admitted to having fathered a child with a longtime member of their house staff, Mildred Patricia Baena, before he became governor.