A downtown Toronto office building has removed signage meant to welcome employees back to the office following significant backlash.

The signs were placed in the building's lobby, located at 20 Bay Street in the city's waterfront area, by property management company Oxford Properties.

One sign reads, "Seriously, we missed you." Another asks, "Miss your sweatpants yet?"

Another sign reads, "Bet your dog's missing you." 

However, some passersby were less than pleased with the signs’ messaging.

“I thought the signs were not very nice to those people who were starting to go back to the office,” the social media user who shared images of the signs told CTV News Toronto Tuesday. “My employer has embraced the hybrid model and I’m thankful for that.”

Other users expressed their disappointment on social media — one called the signs “belitting” and “condescending.”

“The dog one would make me turn around and go back home,” one Twitter user wrote.

When reached for comment, Oxford Properties told CTV News Toronto the signage was displayed to “welcome customers back into [the] building," but has now been removed.

“Unfortunately, in an attempt to be lighthearted the signage came off as uncaring, which was never our intention. The signage clearly missed the mark and was removed last week as a result,” they said in a statement.

“The campaign should have not made it into production and we sincerely apologize to any customers, colleagues and members of the public that were offended.”

A recent survey by the Business Development Bank of Canada last year found that 55 per cent of employees would like to continue to work from home even when the pandemic is over.