Liz Truss left the stage at an event to promote her own book after she was targeted by campaigners joking about the lettuce that outlasted her time in Downing Street.
The former prime minister was speaking in Suffolk on Tuesday in support of her memoir Ten Years to Save the West when the event was ambushed with a remote-controlled banner.
Ms Truss, who lost her seat at the general election last month, was in office for just 49 days before a backlash to her mini-budget from the market and Tory MPs forced her resignation.
In the final days of her premiership, the Daily Star newspaper launched a live stream of a lettuce to chart its decay against her decline, with the lettuce ultimately winning the contest.
The former MP for South West Norfolk was discussing the forthcoming US presidential election at the Beccles Public Hall and Theatre when the banner appeared behind her.
Bearing a picture of the cartoon vegetable used by the Star, the sign read: “I crashed the economy.”
Ms Truss was initially oblivious to the stunt until a man walked onto the stage and tapped her on the shoulder to gain her attention.
The host of the event insisted he had “no idea where that’s come from” amid a mix of laughter and murmurs from the assembled audience.
Shuffling her papers as she looked up at the lettuce, Ms Truss declared “that’s not funny” before walking off with an aide to a smattering of applause.
