Zara's latest fashion statement may have some shoppers wondering, "What were they thinking?"

The Spanish clothing and accessories retailer has removed from its Israeli and other websites a striped "sheriff" T-shirt that is hauntingly reminiscent of the striped shirts Holocaust survivors donned in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

"The new #ZARA Sheriff T-Shirt is somewhat #Holcocaust ish in its design don't you agree?" tweeted @shulman_k at 11:18 A.M. on Wednesday.

“The item in question has now been removed from all Zara stores and Zara.com," commented a spokesperson representing Zara’s parent company Inditex later on Wednesday.

“The garment was inspired by the classic Western films, but we now recognise that the design could be seen as insensitive and apologize sincerely for any offence caused to our customers.”

The garment sports horizontal rather than vertical stripes. However, the shirt bears a large six-pointed star on the upper-left section, in the exact place where Nazis forced Jews to wear the Star of David.

The word "sheriff" is written very faintly across the oversized yellow star.

In 2012, Danish fashion company Wood Wood apologized for a T-shirt featuring a detailing that resembled the Star of David worn by Jews during the Holocaust. The star was removed from the T-shirt after the Anti-Defamation League slammed clothing retailer Urban Outfitters for advertising it on its retail website.

Open gallery view A part of a uniform worn by prisoners in Auschwitz, marked with a Star of David. Credit: Wikimedia Commons