A Japanese non-profit group in the United States has filed suit with a US federal court seeking the removal of a statue symbolizing the so-called comfort women from a city in the state of California.

The group of local Japanese and Japanese-Americans, the Global Alliance for Historical Truth, told reporters on Thursday that it wants a federal district court in California to order the city of Glendale to remove the statue from a park.

The statue was unveiled last July. The city had given permission to erect it to Korean-Americans who are calling on the Japanese government to pay compensation over the issue.

Members of the non-profit group say the city of Glendale has infringed the diplomatic authority that is reserved to the federal government. They say the city's decision to allow the statue could adversely affect US policy toward Japan.

The group's representative Koichi Mera said public opinion in the US has a major impact on opinion worldwide. He added that tolerating the statue could prompt other US states and other countries to follow suit.

In a separate move, campaigners have sent to the White House a petition with more than 120,000 signatures from Japan and the US seeking the statue's removal. A campaign leader says the statue escalates hatred against Japan.

Other US communities are discussing putting up similar statues.

In 1993, Japan's then Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yohei Kono, acknowledged that many of the women were made to serve against their will in brothels operated at the request of the Japanese military authorities during World War Two.

The South Korean government is seeking compensation for the so-called comfort women from the Japanese government. But Japan maintains that all issues of reparations were settled in 1965 when the two countries normalized relations.

Feb. 21, 2014 - Updated 11:43 UTC