COP26 mascot Bonnie the Seal was said to be ridiculed by Westminster officials amid rodent issues in the city.
The Telegraph reported that a Westminster official ridiculed the mascot as looking "rat-like".
An unnamed official said the seal's feet "looked more like a rat" while another crowned the mascot as "king of the rats".
Glasgow's rodent problems has been in the headlines in recent days.
On Monday, Glasgow Council leader Susan Aitken played down the presence of rats in the city as "common in cities", adding "one, possibly two, small incidents" with refuse workers.
However, GMB union member Chris Mitchell said there were "1.3 million rats in Glasgow" ahead of the bin worker strike planned during COP26.
In the green, eco-friendly spirit of COP26, Bonnie the Seal was reused from the 2018 European Championships.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, a Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: "As is tradition, mascots often embody local customs and traits of a host city. Scotland is home to at least 36% of the total harbour seal population with Bonnie swimming up, all the way from Argyll, up the Clyde to once more welcome people to the exciting city of Glasgow.
"We only paid for the new costumes and, in the spirit of COP26, Bonnie herself we 'recycled' after using her at two major sports championships. Her role during COP26 is to help explain climate change to children and engage our 1,000 volunteers.
