Ooh, that's a tough one. I can think of a way that might work, but it depends on how the image is made, and the state it is in at the moment.
You could try using Path menu > Path Effects > Lattice Deformation, or maybe Envelope Deformation. For both of those, it's best to make very small movements of the control handles. If you move them very far, it will be too distorted. But making small or even tiny movements, you might be able to get there.
You might have to convert the current image, if it's still identified as a Path Effect, back to a regular path, before you try to apply another path effect. I'm not sure, without seeing the file.
If that doesn't work, if you could share the SVG file with us, we could experiment as well. We would have a better chance of coming up with a solution, if we have the file to work on.
Possibly Extensions menu > Generate from path > Interpolate could be used, and might work. It's very hard to say without seeing the file.
