The posters, mostly in Chinese and some in English, read: “51 empty promises, after 10 years” and include a Chinese euphemism, “big cannon”, which means a big liar.

The A5-sized posters show a picture of Lim pointing at cars, wading through flash floods against a background of an apartment on a bald hillside.

In Butterworth, a passerby seized the posters from two motorcyclists who were in the midst of putting them up. The two men left without putting up a fight.

In a rare comment on Facebook, Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow condemned the circulation of the posters and vowed DAP would take a “clean” approach when campaigning.

He said he would not be surprised if paid advertisements slamming the Penang government appear in local newspapers.

Chow described the campaign against Lim and Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders as “vicious”, and said there would likely be more negative posters, social media posts, infographics and videos soon.

“They have so much money and resources to kill us and grab Penang back.

“DAP and PH leaders, members and supporters must not underestimate their resolve to grab back Penang.

“That is why Barisan Nasional leaders are so sure that Teng Chang Yeow will be the next chief minister. As usual, DAP will run a clean campaign to highlight our achievements in the last 10 years. It is the people who will have to decide,” he said.

Teng is state BN chairman.