British newspaper, The Sun, ended an old tradition of putting topless photos of women on Page 3 on Friday.

According to British newspaper, The Times, The Sun, which is owned by billionaire media tycoon Rupert Murdoch just like The Times, published its last topless photos in Friday's edition.

The decision to rid the paper of bare-breasted women comes after 45 years of publishing the scandalous pictures.

Although critics of the publication initially applauded the removal of the pictures, The Sun made comments regarding the switch of the placement of the photos from print to online.

"Page 3 of The Sun is where it's always been, between pages 2 and 4, and you can find Lucy from Warwick at Page3.com," the newspaper said.

Topless photos were originally introduced to the publication in 1970, after Murdoch took control of the newspaper. The first topless model was German model Stephanie Rahn.

Vocal critic of The Sun, the No More Page 3 campaign, responded to the change on their Facebook page,

"This could be truly historic news and a great day for people power. ... This could be a huge step for challenging sexism," the campaign wrote.

The campaign had initially no confirmation from the publication regarding the cancellation of the pictures.

Recently The Sun made moves hinting at coming changes regarding Page 3.

The Irish edition of The Sun stopped publishing naked pictures in August.

In September, Murdoch tweeted that he thought the publication of the risqué photos were "old fashioned."

"Aren't beautiful young women more attractive in at least some fashionable clothes? Your opinions please," he said in a tweet.

Despite Murdoch's belief the photos were old fashioned, The Sun continued to publish them, as they were popular with readers.

"We held focus groups in which it was clear that we shouldn't touch it [page 3]. People don't want to be told what should be in their newspaper. As far as I'm concerned I've parked the issue,"David Dinsmore, The Sun editor, told the Guardian last year.

The Sun continues to publish female models in lingerie on Page 3.

The Sun is the country's most popular tabloid with a circulation of 2.2 million copies.

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