Officials in Omsk hastily removed a theater poster reading, "We Await You, Merry Gnome," ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the Siberian city last week, the Novy Region web site reported Thursday.
The poster, which advertised a children's play, was located on a street that Medvedev's convoy was to use on the way to a local refinery, the report said. It was unclear exactly why the poster might have been removed, though Novy Region suggested that officials may have been afraid of offending Medvedev, whose height has been estimated in the media at 162 centimeters.
Citing Omsk bloggers and journalists, Novy Region reported that the local officials had demonstrated great zeal last week to make Medvedev comfortable during his visit. In one example, security officials prevented pedestrians from crossing a street for 40 minutes in punishingly cold weather while waiting for Medvedev's motorcade to pass, the web site said.
Businesses located along the roads that Medvedev was to travel on were ordered to remove all sidewalk advertisement stands as well as piles of dirty snow and ice, Novy Region reported.
In some places, the sidewalks were covered with fresh, clean snow brought in from outside the city, the report said.