Enfield's large Turkish Cypriot community has spoken of its outrage after posters advertising North Cyprus as a tourist destination were defaced with offensive graffitti.

A number of posters erected by the North Cyprus tourist board were ripped off walls or defaced in roads along Green Lanes and the North Circular Road, last week.

Vandals scrawled Until the Turks came along' under a picture of a sandy beach with the slogan: North Cyprus, a sanctuary of unspoiled beauty', on one poster in Lyndhurst Road, just across the Haringey border.

Aydin Halil, of Green Lanes, Palmers Green, said: "When I saw what had been done I was really angered and I think it is really disappointing that we can't stand up for ourselves. The people who did this are very bitter people."

Similar posters were banned from the capital's buses after London Mayor Ken Livingstone received complaints from members of the Greek Cypriot community who found them offensive.

Many Greek Cypriots are angry at posters depicting Turkish-controlled North Cyprus as a tourist destination after the Turkish invasion of the north part of the island in 1974.

Joanne McCartney, Enfield and Haringey's Greater London Assembly representative, condemned any use of racist graffiti on the posters, and said she will meet members of the Greek, Turkish and Cypriot communities to discuss their concerns.

She said: "I understand there is concern, and it's still an extremely sensitive issue."

Costas Giorgiou, of the Green Lanes Business Association, said: "We would like to see a working solution for the Cyprus problem for both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. The sooner they reach a solution the better."

Vandalised billboards were found as far afield as Tottenham and Wood Green.

It is estimated there are around 33,000 residents of Cypriot origin living in Enfield.