An Air Force base in Georgia has issued an apology for a flier promoting a "fun shoot" on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The flier prominently features a picture of the civil rights leader, who was fatally shot in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968.

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"We're deeply sorry for any offense or harm caused by our insensitivity and failure to provide appropriate oversight of our marketing process," Robins Air Force Base spokesman Roland Leach said in statement.

"The flyer does not represent the values, opinions or views of the Department of Defense, the Air Force or Robins Air Force Base leadership and its employees," Leach said.

The "fun shoot" was referring to a trap and skeet shooting competition at the base this coming Monday. Leach said the base's leadership "realized the inappropriateness" of the flier several days ago and immediately began removing it from various locations.

"There was no malice of forethought in the flyer's creation and it was never the base's intention to portray Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a negative light," he said.

"It was an honest mistake, to which we've personally counseled the parties involved and will provide them with remedial training and appropriate oversight to prevent this sort of inattention from occurring in the future."

Rutha Jackson, president of the Houston County NAACP, told The Telegraph of Macon, Ga., that the flier was "like a piece of hate mail" to her.

"It really bothered me that they would take the initiative to use Dr. King's photo on a gun shoot," she told the paper. "It sends a message which I think is very offensive."