Victoria & Albert museum removes Prophet Mohammed image from website in wake of Charlie Hebdo attacks

A depiction of the Prophet Mohammed has been removed from the digital database of the Victoria & Albert museum amid security concerns in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.

The gallery mistakenly believed its collection did not feature artwork of the Prophet Mohammed but a US art expert discovered it did in fact have one, a piece by an Iranian artist.

It then hastily removed the image, citing security reasons for the reason to delete it.

"The V&A has one poster in the collection which depicts the Prophet Mohammed," a spokeswoman told The Independent.

"The image of it has been removed from our online database but it remains in our collection and as with most of our reserve collections would be made available to scholars and researchers by appointment."

Britain's security level remains at "high" after the Paris shootings three weeks ago that claimed the lives of 12 people, including staff at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Removal of the image from the gallery's database has prompted art experts to point out similar images have been displayed around the world without provoking violence.