TAMPA, Fla. — A toy company has pulled an item for sale and is offering refunds to parents after it was discovered that one of its stuffed toys contained a symbol that is very similar to a secret code used by pedophiles in the child sex trade.

According to reports, mother Nicole O’Kelly bought a souvenir for her two-year-old daughter at a recent Monster Jam event in Florida. She saw a curious heart design on the stuffed pink striped truck and began looking into what it represented.

When she discovered that the symbol was like a symbol used by pedophiles, she became concerned.

“This is pink,” O’Kelly told WFLA-TV. “This is for little girls, especially at a predominately male event.”

The symbol is reportedly known by pedophiles involved in the human trafficking as code that a child is ready to be traded for sex.

However, when Feld, Inc., the Florida-based company that designed the toy, learned of the symbol’s meaning, they pulled the stuffed truck from their shelves.

“We reacted immediately. We wanted to do the right thing as quickly as possible,” representative Stephen Payne said in a statement.

“I had no idea there was an underlying meaning of these symbols and the deplorable behavior,” he stated. “We just don’t know if a crime was committed here. We have not been contacted by LEOs. We just want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Feld is offering refunds to anyone who might have purchased the toy.

“[A]ny customers who have purchased this truck can contact our customer service department for an exchange or refund,” Payne said. “The company was not aware of the disturbing message contained in the truck’s design, nor did we intend to use any design that had a secret or double meaning. We are currently reviewing our merchandise to ensure that it’s appropriate for our customers.”

Detective Anthony Bassone of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office told reporters that the design did indeed resemble pedophile symbolism, but said that children were not likely in any danger from the inadvertent use of the graphic. He said, however, that child molesters that are in the know about secret codes used by pedophiles may be led to think inappropriate thoughts in seeing the image.

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