It probably seemed like a good idea at the time to drum up trade during the Vinterferie school holiday.

In any event, Rødovre Centrum shopping mall has been hosting an exhibition of waxwork figures of famous stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts.

However, one of them – Michael Jackson – has provoked a storm of protest, reports BT.

Bad or Beat It?
In a new documentary film entitled ‘Leaving Neverland’, Jackson has just been accused (again) of being a paedophile and apparently, the thought of seeing this alleged pervert’s wax effigy was too much for some people.

“Last week we were contacted by someone in the media who drew our attention to the fact that the figure could be controversial and afterwards we received a number of calls from customers – some of them from families with children – who thought it was problematic,” said the centre’s marketing director Charlotte Andersen to TV2 Lorry.

“Because of this we were afraid it might offend some people and could be vandalised, so we removed it,” she added.

The way you make me feel
This seems to have backfired spectacularly because the centre’s Facebook site has now been flooded with angry comments from people defending the singer.

“I’m shocked that you are so afraid of giving offence that you chose to remove the figure. Threats of vandalism should be reported to the police, so the right thing to do would be to hurry up and put the figure back and give it a place of honour, because Michael is innocent,” wrote one woman.

“So tragic and so extremely disappointing. I’d not expected anything like that from such a good shopping centre as you are,” wrote another woman.

Gone too soon
However, Rødovre Centrum has somewhat reluctantly decided to stand by its decision to remove the figure.

“Of course it’s rather sad but we have to take the problem seriously when there are customers who feel offended,” added Andersen.

To add insult to injury for the fans, Michael Jackson has been replaced by a waxwork of Brad Pitt.