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Anti-immigration signs placed in a south Belfast housing estate are being treated as a "hate incident", police have said.

Placards and signs erected in the Belvoir estate in recent days warned that the community "will no longer accept the re-housing of illegal immigrants".

The signage also uses an offensive term while referring to "other communities".

Two signs have been erected close to high rise tower blocks in the estate.

They were reported to the police by the Housing Executive.

In a statement to ����ý News NI, Housing Executive chief Grainia Long said: "The signage that appeared in the Belvoir area is entirely unacceptable and extremely disheartening."

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SDLP Councillor Dónal Lyons told ����ý News NI he removed several of the signs on Tuesday evening after receiving complaints from residents.

"I was elected to represent this area, regardless of creed or backgrounds or political belief," he said.

"The language is completely unacceptable and the signalling that it puts out is to my mind criminal and there should be no place for it at all in Belfast."

Ms Long added: "Our role as the strategic housing authority is to allocate temporary and permanent housing fairly and impartially for individuals based solely on their entitlement and need."

She also explained that the Housing Executive "work proactively to promote inclusivity and diversity in our homes and estates and that is why it is particularly disappointing to encounter signage of this nature".

Democratic Unionist Party MLA Edwin Poots said the signs are "wrong" and described the language as "inappropriate".

Mr Poots said, however, there have been concerns about housing in the area which have caused "resentment and anger".

It is not known yet who or what group organised the erection of the signage.