The cast and crew of the popular BBC show "Top Gear" was forced to stop recording its season special in Argentina after a group of locals pelted them with rocks because they believed a license plate on one of the cars referenced the 1982 Falklands War. The group left three days earlier than planned.

The team had arrived in the Tierra del Fuego province in southern Argentina to film for the TV show's upcoming "Argentina Special, " according to The Associated Press. The show's three hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, planned to drive three old cars purchased in the U.K. --a Porsche, Lotus and Mustang.

The Porsche 928 had the license plate "H982 FKL," which was seen as a reference to the war between the U.K. and Argentina over the islands off the Tierra del Fuego. Clarkson, who is known for controversial antics, drove the Porsche, but the BBC denies the license plate meant to insult Argentines.

"Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original is completely untrue," BBC executive producer Andy Wilman said in a statement.

According to the Buenos Aires Herald, locals had been suspicious of the group since they arrived because of the license plates. The other two cars had numbers that were very close to the war's casualty numbers from both countries.

Local war veterans appeared at the five-star Arakur hotel where the British were staying, reports the Guardian. The group had been protesting outside the hotel but managed to enter it.

"They were very tense moments. The war veterans were furious and shouting insults. Police had to remove them. Luckily things didn't get too out of hand," receptionist Martin Marcilla said.

"They left the hotel just before 7:30 p.m. It was all very sudden and unexpected. They left by a service door and in such a hurry that they even forgot a computer."

Local government officials allowed the cast and crew to leave Argentina and cross into Chile to Punta Arenas, according to The Telegraph. They provided the group a police escort but this was not enough to prevent them from being attacked by locals when they stopped for gas.

A video shows how a group of angry locals waited for the caravan and attacked the cars with rocks, yelling profanities and insults. The crew abandoned the cars at a police checkpoint.

Watch the video: