An organization of Japanese writers has called for the resumed display at an arts festival of a controversial statue symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.

"Statue of a Girl of Peace," symbolizing comfort women who were forced to work in Japan's wartime brothels, was displayed at Aichi Triennale, an international art exhibition being held in central Japan, but removed on Saturday after three days.

The Japan P.E.N. Club said on its Web site on Sunday that it issued a statement the previous day expressing concerns over the removal and calling for the resumption of the exhibition.

The organization said that creators need to work freely and people also need to appreciate their works freely, and that a lack of space that allows uninhibited communication between creation and appreciation would dampen the spirit of freedom, which is the driving force of society.

Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura told a news conference on Saturday that the festival decided to remove the statue after it received terror threats by telephone and email.