Red-faced cops have had to pull an logo for an anti-Islamophobia campaign after it emerged it looked like an ISIS gesture.
Bedfordshire Police began using the logo, which shows a pointing finger, as part of a pro-tolerance scheme to back Islamophobia Awareness Month.
But today, just a day after launching the campaign, the force decided to retract it over fears after dozens took to social media to point out it looked like a gesture used by the murderous terrorist organisation.
Writing on its Facebook page, Bedfordshire Police said: “It has come to our attention the pointing finger logo used to illustrate social media posts around Islamophobia Awareness Month is similar to that used by ISIS.
“The logo was produced by a national organisation and was used in good faith.
“As a consequence and to avoid offence, Bedfordshire Police has deleted these posts and will not tolerate Islamophobia or any other form of hatred or discrimination.”
The logo was produced by the Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) advocacy group.
The embarrassing backtrack comes as Bedfordshire Police have seen a 26 per cent increase in reports of Islamophobia compared to last year.
But a spokesman for MEND criticised police for their reaction, claiming the symbol pre-dates IS.
A spokesman for MEND said: “We would like to advise that Islamophobia Awareness Month has been running in the UK since 2012 and was launched by Muslim and non-Muslim organisations together and it predates the emergence of Da’esh (sometimes referred to as IS).
“Islamophobia Awareness Month plays a vital role in highlighting the many positive contributions of British Muslims alongside exhibiting the scale of Islamophobia in the UK.
“MEND and iAM totally abhor the murderous cult of Da’esh and their actions have no place in Islam.
“It makes no sense that the IAM campaign logo be dropped by a police force because it purports to resemble a symbol of Da’esh.
“The use of the finger as part of the logo is a common symbol for the letter “I” which represents Islamophobia.
“We would not consider removing symbols such as the crucifix or St George’s cross from use in national campaigns simply because they are frequently abused by far right and Neo Nazi movements.
“We are disappointed that a campaign supported by thousands of British Muslims is being sullied in this way. We would strongly urge Bedfordshire Police to reconsider.”