Charlie Hebdo Cartoon Riles Romanian Tennis Fans

A cartoon published on Thursday by the famous French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has angered Romanian fans of the winner of the Roland Garros Tennis tournament, Simona Halep.

The magazine published a drawing of Halep holding the trophy and a caption reading: "A Romanian wins Roland Garros: Scrap iron! Scrap iron!"

The caption refers to Romanian Roma who often peddle scrap iron - the evident suggestion being that Halep would melt down the trophy for scrap.

Romanian media called the so-called joke racist, to which another satirical publication, Times New Roman, published another witticism, claiming: "The French don't really know how to joke; otherwise they would insist on Romania's joining Schengen [the EU's passport-free zone] very day."

Das soll das Niveau von Satire sein? pic.twitter.com/sChpfKyA9Z

— Michael Mundt (@LeahCimtnum) June 14, 2018

Romanian readers of Charlie Hebdo also took to the magazine's Facebook page to show their annoyance and demand an official apology to Halep - some of them reminding France of the solidarity Romania has shown in the past.

"Greetings and shame on you for [mocking] our champion Simona Halep. When you experienced bombings, Romanians showed solidarity with you and your people. This has proved your character!" a reader said on Facebook.

Charlie Hebdo was the target of a shocking Islamist terrorist attack in January 2015, after publishing a series of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammed, which left 12 dead.