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ISU officials have launched an investigation after a pair of Chinese ice dancers were seen with what looked like a replica weapon at an international skating competition.

Broadcast footage showed the skaters sitting alongside a large toy in the form of a missile marked “DF-61” as they awaited the judges' results at the “kiss and cry” area on Saturday.

This model is a recently introduced China-produced land-based long-range weapon designed for carrying nuclear weapons, that had been unveiled during a national ceremony last month.

“The ISU have acknowledged of an unsuitable plush item appears to have been one of the objects tossed onto the ice by audience members following a routine at the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix Cup of China event,” the ISU commented in an emailed statement.

“The soft toy was subsequently held by the athletes after their performance. We apologizes for the incident and will look into it more deeply.”

Ren and Xing placed in eighth place of 10 pairs in the ice dance event, which was won by the American pair from the US.