Danish toy maker Lego on Tuesday reiterated its long-standing principle of not endorsing the use of the company's iconic blocks for political purposes, after Chinese artist Ai Weiwei posted photos of images of 43 political activists made from Lego bricks on his Instagram account.

In an e-mail sent to the Global Times on Tuesday, Lego's senior director of corporate communications, Charlotte Simonsen, refused to comment on Ai's move specifically "by principle," but said that "anyone can purchase LEGO bricks in toy stores or in other ways and use them for any purpose they desire."

The reply came after images of political activists from all over the world had been posted on Ai's Instagram account, including an image of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Each picture was tagged with a caption written by Ai detailing each activist's life story.

Ai attacked Lego in an Instagram post on October 24, calling the Danish company's refusal to sell the plastic bricks to him "an act of censorship and discrimination."

"We refrain - on a global level - from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of LEGO bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda. This principle is not new, but has been in place for decades," Simonsen said.

Simonsen explained that the principle requires the company to decline requests for donations or support for projects in cases "where we are made aware there is a political context."

"We respect any individual's right to free creative expression, and we neither can nor wish to censor, prohibit or ban the creative use of LEGO bricks by any individual, be it a child, fan or artist," Simonsen wrote.