Two statues of cartoon bears displayed on Beijing's Financial Street were promptly removed after it was pointed out that the sculptures appeared to be making insulting gestures at a government building, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.

The statues from the Chinese animated cartoon series Boonie Bears had been displayed in front of the Beijing Financial Street Shopping Center, directly across from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as part of an International Children's Day activity held at the mall on June 1.

The pair of statues got surrounding businesses and officials alike growling after social media users suggested the bears' gestures were casting blame at the regulatory body for the current stock market recession - or " bear market."

Photos of the bears soon went viral. 

"It seems that the two bears are pointing insulting fingers to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which is located right across the street," read a posted photo caption.

Employees at the China Securities Regulatory Commission soon called the shopping center with requests to "move the bears a little," according to Beijing Youth Daily.

When the shopping center obliged and adjusted the statue, a neighboring Bank of Communications branch complained that the bears were now facing their building.

Instead of risking further potential complaints from the nearby Bank of Beijing, employees at the shopping center instead decided to put the statues in storage, according to the report.

Employees were left baffled by the ordeal.

 "It doesn't make sense to accuse the bears for pointing insulting fingers at anyone. They only have four fingers each," an employee from the shopping center surnamed Zhu told the paper.

"The bears are loved among children, and the cartoon teaches them about protecting the environment and caring for others," added Zhu.

Beijing Youth Daily