Police confirmed Mr Lim had been issued with an infringement notice and was also ordered to "move on" from outside Edgecliff Station on Monday morning.

"He was also told he could return to the space he was occupying without his offensive sign," a NSW Police spokeswoman said. The $500 fine for offensive conduct was increased from $200 last year.

A former Strathfield councillor, the 71-year-old Mr Lim is known for toting large billboards strapped to his body, bearing messages of peace and love. In recent years his preaching has become more overtly political, including the pun: "People can change, Tony you c**t."

Mr Lim defended the content of the billboard, telling the Herald it was a harmless play on words.

"It's in the dictionary," he said. "I never knew this could happen in Australia."

Mr Lim said he intended to fight the infringement notice in court. He also planned to return to Edgecliff Station on Tuesday morning, but this time armed with an old T-shirt and sign demanding better pay for police and other public servants.

Last week Mr Lim was photographed wearing the sign referring to the Prime Minister while participating in an apparently friendly exchange with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose office is nearby. The Daily Telegraph speculated this would further fuel perceived leadership tensions within the Coalition.

"I didn't see the words on the sign but now The Daily Telegraph has drawn it to my attention I deplore such language and will let Danny Lim know my feelings next time I see him," Mr Turnbull said at the time.

Commuter Jeremy Hillman alighted his bus after observing police interacting with a "quite agitated" Mr Lim. He said the officers behaved reasonably and told Mr Lim they were acting on numerous complaints from passersby about the sign's contents.

"He [Mr Lim] claims that because it's an upside-down A [rather than a U in the offending word] it's parody and therefore not directly using the word," Mr Hillman said. "He's also of the view that that word should be challenged in terms of its availability for public use."

By Tuesday morning, a GoFundMe campaign run by community activist James Brechney had raised above and beyond the $500 required to pay the fine, while Mr Hillman said he had found a lawyer to represent Mr Lim pro bono.

Over the years, Mr Lim's targets have been on both sides of the political divide. Toward the end of Labor's last term in state government, he was critical of the incumbent ALP member for Strathfield, Virginia Judge. "Election problems? Dial 1300VIRGINIA - screwup guaranteed," read one of Mr Lim's signs. "16 years of Labor is ENUF," said another.