Government officials have ordered Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to remove homophobic banners that call on gays and lesbians to leave the city.

Last week the FPI raided boarding houses in the city where they believed gay people to be staying.

 "I have reprimanded the FPI for what they admitted they did," mayor Ridwan Kamil said in a text message forwarded to Reuters by an aide. "Provocative banners have to be taken down."

The FPI has a reputation for violently harassing minorities, including Christians and other sects ofIslam. FPI members forced local government in Aceh province to tear down churches last year.

Although LGBT are largely tolerated in urban areas of Indonesia, in some conservative (and often Msuslim) areas they face discrimination. In the province of Aceh, the punishment for gay sex is 100 lashes.