A sharp-eyed Butler Eagle reader alerted the newspaper of what appears to be a vulgar shot at President Donald Trump in the Sunday, Feb. 10, cartoon section, and it will cost the cartoonist his place in the Eagle's Sunday comics.

The seemingly vulgar sentiment, which appears to begin with “We fondly say go ...”, can be seen scribbled in the bottom right corner of the middle panel in Non Sequitur, by cartoonist Wiley Miller.

The three-panel, black-and-white cartoon encourages readers to color in the panels, which this week featured a “Bearaissance” character named “Leonardo Bear Vinci.”

“A reader brought to our attention that one of the syndicated comic strips which appears in the Sunday Butler Eagle may contain a hidden message which was apparently placed there by someone in the creative department of the creator of the comic strip or the syndication which controls it,” said Ron Vodenichar, Eagle publisher and general manager. “Neither the Butler Eagle nor any other newspaper that includes this strip had an opportunity to remove it even if they had discovered it before distribution.

“We apologize that such a disgusting trick was perpetuated on the reading public. The Butler Eagle will discontinue that comic immediately,” Vodenichar said.

The Eagle reader who alerted editors to the message said in an email that his daughter “enjoys reading the funnies” every weekend. “I was quite disturbed therefore, when I noticed the barely obscured epithet,” he wrote.

Non Sequitur has been in syndication by Andrews McMeel Syndication since 1992 and appears in 700 newspapers, according to the online information site Wikipedia. Miller is known for his social satire.

A Twitter account that appears to be Miller's refers to the hidden message in an 11 a.m. post on Sunday.

“Some of my sharp-eyed readers have spotted a little Easter egg from Leonardo Bear-Vinci. Can you find it?” the post reads. It also contains the panel that contains the apparent message.

Commenters on www.gocomics.com, where online searchers are rerouted upon clicking on Miller's website, both chuckle at and disparage the supposed message.

The Eagle was unable to contact Miller or Andrews McMeel Syndication on Sunday evening. The latter made no mention of the situation on its Website.