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A grieving dad has launched a petition after his son's gravestone was removed for being "too offensive" because it included a photo of him with his middle finger up.

Peter Bridge died aged just 33 in April last year after a lifelong battle with cystic fibrosis - and dad Arthur wanted his grave to reflect his son's cheeky sense of humour.

The tombstone, which also described Peter as "dearly loved son, brother, uncle, nephew and cousin", had been in place at Enfield Memorial in Adelaide, Australia, for months.

But Arthur and his family were left outraged when he claims it disappeared without warning on January 16 and they were told it was too controversial to stay, reports 7NEWS.

“There are a ridiculous amount of reasons as to why this is not acceptable,” he wrote in the campaign on change.org.

“First and foremost, we were not even notified of his headstone’s removal - there was absolutely no regard for the memory and resting place of our boy.

He continued: “Secondly, the picture of Peter is so small, you’d have to be standing right in front of it to even see it properly.

“If his picture did offend someone, why is it anyone’s problem but theirs? That is our son’s personal resting space.”

The Adelaide Cemeteries Authority, however, has said it got numerous written and phone complaints from people about the tombstone before making its decision.

Chief Operations Officer Michael Robertson said: “Numerous attempts were made to call the Bridge family to discuss this before the monument was removed. Our calls were not returned.

“Adelaide Cemeteries has since met with the Bridge family on a number of occasions to try to resolve the issue."

He added that they had suggested “a number of solutions” to the family and offered to meet any costs involved but the family had declined.

“Adelaide Cemeteries remains prepared to work with the Bridge family to find a solution.”

The petition has had nearly 2,500 signatures.