Mucha said the posters are not protected speech because they are obscene.

“I have nothing against the group—I like freedom, I like America, I like policy, I like groups,” he said. “I don’t like having hardcore pornography staring at me when I come out of buildings.”

Semine said the poster was merely an attempt to focus people on civil liberties.

Mucha said he expected many other people were upset by the poster.

“I would be shocked if I were the only person who was offended by these posters,” he said. “They might as well have cut it out of Hustler.”

The removal of these posters was not intended to make any larger statement, Mucha said.

“I didn’t mean to make an issue out of this,” he said. “This is a no-brainer.”

But Rapaport said he worried that this incident forms part of the larger issue of poster removal and free speech.

“My worry is that this is indicative of a growing trend here at Harvard of people just tearing down posters they disagree with,” Rapaport said.

The incident comes on the heels of a controversy about the removal of Harvard Right to Life (HRL) posters, which led to the undergraduate council passing a resolution, supported by Mucha, condemning removal of approved posters and promising reimbursements to affected groups.

Semine said the group will consider seeking reimbursement from the council.

—Staff writer Stephen M. Marks can be reached at marks@fas.harvard.edu.