A number of Borat 2 posters have been removed from buses across Paris following criticism from the Muslim community.

The removal of the spreads, which see Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy character Borat wearing a surgical mask as a mankini and a ring engraved with the word “Allah” in Arabic, has been requested by a number of passengers and drivers, according to The Times.

• Read more: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm review: how the controversial Kazakh journalist got woke

The posters were called “provocative” and “lacking respect” for Islam, according to The Sun when citing the French publication Le Parisien.

The TICE network, operating in the southern Parisian suburb of Evry, said they had removed the posters over their “inappropriate” humour, denying any religious connotations.

EN24 also reports that one RATP bus driver on Twitter mentions an “order from the RATP BUS regulatory chiefs (CRIV) to remove Borat posters from RATP buses because of the controversy over the ring Borat wears on his finger”.

RATP, the state-owned public transport operator, told The Times it would “under no circumstances take this campaign off our network”.

Borat 2, the full title of which is Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, was released to mixed reviews on Amazon Prime Video on October 23.

In a three-star review of the film, NME said: “There are still scenes of stunning impropriety, but they are fewer in number. It’s strange to say, given Twitter’s perpetual state of indignation, but a lot of what Borat says in this movie won’t seem scandalous.”