Smurfette, the only female character in "Smurfs," was erased from the poster of the upcoming film from the animated franchise in Bnie Brak city of Israel.
Promotional posters for "Smurfs: The Lost Village" were unveiled across Israel on Sunday, reported Variety.
Ultra-religious Jewish males are forbidden to look upon images of women, and in Israel's most devout communities, depictions of women are routinely cropped out of newspapers, catalogues and advertisements.
During the US presidential election, religious news sites in Israel ran coverage without any images of Hillary Clinton.
Film posters featuring women also regularly come under the knife when they appear in religious neighbourhoods. In 2015, Jennifer Lawrence disappeared from posters for "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2". She was replaced by an image of a fiery crown.
The "Smurfs" poster, however, marks the first time a non-human female has been erased.
According to the Israeli press, the tweaked posters were created by the film's local PR as part of an organised publicity rollout and appear only in religious neighbourhoods.
In Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv and Haifa, Smurfette is present alongside Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty.
Forum Film, which distributes "Smurfs" in Israel, told Israeli daily Haaretz that the scrubbed billboard was standard practice in ultra-Orthodox enclaves.
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