She said the exhibits had been placed on the walkway to the monument.

The woman, who wanted to be known only as Yong, told FMT she had set up the booth there three months ago to educate the public about Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China.

“I chased after them and asked for the items to be returned. One of them said, ‘We are policemen from China’. They ignored my pleas and drove off,” she said.

Yong claimed the men left in a van accompanied by a local tour guide and driver.

In May, then Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa said the arrest of more than 70 Falun Gong followers ahead of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia was lawful as “Falun Gong is an illegal organisation”.

“As such, it is not permitted to carry out any activities,” he was quoted as saying at a press conference.

Video clips provided by Yong appear to show several men carrying the exhibits and placing them in the rear of the tour van.

Yong said she felt threatened by the apparent involvement of a foreign element in the incident, asserting that it infringed upon her rights to free speech and expression.

She lodged a police report at the Dang Wangi police station.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual movement that combines meditation with qigong exercises.

Although banned in China since 1999, it is active in more than 100 countries and its main text, Zhuan Falun, has been translated into more than 50 languages.

FMT has reached out to the police and the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur for comment.