WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: Greta Thunberg has responded to a distressing sticker which appears to depict the 17-year-old Swedish teen climate activist being sexually assaulted.

A photo of the sticker has been shared widely on social media.

The image shows a female with plaited pigtails being pulled and “Greta” scrawled across her naked back, with the X-Site Energy Services logo underneath.

View photos The Swedish teen is known for her climate and environmental activism. Source: Getty Images More

The teen climate activist responded to the sticker at the weekend, saying: “They are starting to get more and more desperate.

“This shows that we’re winning.”

It appears a woman from Alberta, Canada first shared an image of the sticker to her Facebook.

They are starting to get more and more desperate...

This shows that we’re winning. https://t.co/NLOZL331X9 — Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 29, 2020

“This is disgusting. This company represents everything that the O&G (oil and gas) industry needs to fight against,” Michelle Narang wrote on Facebook.

X-Site Energy Services is an energy company based in Alberta, where Ms Narang calls home, according to her Facebook page.

Calls for X-Site executives to step down

After widespread condemnation for the sticker, a petition was launched calling for the executives of the company to step down.

HuffPost Canada was told by an oil industry worker the sticker was distributed as promotional material at job sites.

“Together, we can show that this disgusting and deplorable behaviour will not go unnoticed in Canada,” the petition says.

View photos Greta Thunberg responded to the sticker which appears to depict her being sexually assaulted. Source: Twitter More

According to The Canadian Press, X-Site’s general manager Doug Sparrow has denied being involved with the stickers.

“It’s not from X-Site or any employee, someone has done this. That’s all I know,” he told local news outlet CityNews.

The stickers were brought to the attention of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who consulted with experts in the sexual exploitation of children.

It was investigated but the Alberta RCMP did not find the image was enough to “constitute a criminal offence”, The Canadian Press reported.

Alberta oil and gas industry apparently needs to be reminded of the definition of child pornography in Canadian law. Making and disseminating child pornography is an indictable offence. #ableg pic.twitter.com/v55HfopK3a — Lise Gotell (@LiseGot) February 27, 2020

The image reportedly did not include components necessary for it to be child pornography, nor does it show “a non-consensual act that would be a direct threat to the person”.

The petition had more than 3000 signatures at time of publication, which is also calling for legal action, rebuking the Mounties’ decision.

“RCMP must take action on this issue and hold those responsible accountable,” an update on Change.org reads.

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