An online petition calling for the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's portrait from his alma mater University of Nottingham in the UK has broken over 2,000 signatures shortly before the deadline.

The petition started on March 8 had sought at least 100 signatures to back a motion to be submitted to the Malaysian Society at the University of Nottingham.

"We are aware that the motion may not be approved for debate, hence this petition needs more than 100 signatures to show to the society that this issue is worth considering at AGM," read the petition on Change.org .

Less than 30 minutes before the 11.59pm deadline for the motion to be submitted yesterday, the petition, started by one Cassandra Hooi, had garnered 2,252 signatures.

The motion calls for the Malaysian Society to lobby for the removal of Najib's two-metre high portrait from one of the walls of its campuses (King Meadow).

The motion is meant to be a sign of protest against Najib's refusal to properly explain the deposits of RM2.6 billion into his personal bank accounts.

"This simple act is capable of sending a strong message to our prime minister that it is time for him to answer truthfully and clearly to the allegations.

"The University of Nottingham shares good relations with our prime minister seeing that he was an alumni hence, once the removal of that portrait is made public, it will be a strong and significant symbol of our collective disagreement towards our prime minister's unsatisfactory responses," read the petition.

If the motion, backed by the petition, is approved, it will be debated during the varsity’s Malaysian Society's AGM on March 16.