Deputy Education Minister Mary Yap has put her foot down on attempts to have a cross removed from a primary school in Sabah.

"The cross stays," she is quoted as saying by Sabah-based Daily Express today.

The school involved is Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan St Mary in Labuk, Sandakan.

Yap, who is also Tawau MP, cited a 2013 Education Ministry circular on mission schools.

"In the circular, it is stated, among other pertinent aspects, that mission schools are allowed to upkeep the ethos and characteristics of these schools.

"So that circular needs to be observed and articulated," she said.

As such, Yap pointed out, the matter has now been resolved.

Earlier today, parents took to the social media to complain that the school's headmaster and Parents-Teachers Association have come under pressure to remove the cross, which was put up on a new building block of the school.

The parents had said Muslim teachers and parents were uncomfortable with the cross.