US state pulls offensive 'FMUSLIMS' licence plate

"FMUSLMS" licence plate, issued in June 2014, has been called "offensive and distasteful" by the US state of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety.

"The Department of Public Safety apologises for this error," a statement said.

"This personalised licence plate should never have been issued."

The residents took to the streets in protest before Governor, Mark Dayton responded to the incident saying he was "appalled that this licence plate was issued by the State of Minnesota.

The number plate received a backlash when images of the red Chevy truck was shared on social media under the hashtag #UniteCloud, urging residents of the St Clouds area to stand together.

"It is offensive, and the person who requested it should be ashamed. That prejudice has no place in Minnesota. I have instructed the Commissioner of Public Safety to retrieve this plate as soon as possible and re-review agency procedures to ensure it does not occur again," Dayton added.

Personalised plates must not contain offensive or obscene content, according to the department's policy.

"In a personalised licence plate, there should be much more careful view because of a lot of people who want to create certain types of messages," Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) told the local ABC news station.

But CAIR said this was not the first offensive licence plate to be seen around the country and blamed it on the "unfortunate mainstreaming of Islamophobia in our society".