After its 5,000 first edition copies sold out, Iranian authorities banned the latest novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez after they realized its title had been altered.

Titled "Memories of My Melancholy Whores", the book was printed in Farsi as "Memories of Melancholy Sweethearts" and was sold out in Iran within three weeks.

The official responsible for such "bureaucratic error" has been sacked, BBC News, quoting Fars news agency, reported.

Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, which is tasked to approve all publications in the country, declined to issue a permit for the reprinting of book after religious sectors reacted negatively on the book's original title and content, added BBC News.

The novel is a story about a nameless newspaper columnist who finds his first love - a 14-year old virgin prostitute -- at age 90 after he made love with her in a brothel. The two met in time for the columnist's celebration of his birthday, www.powells.com reported.

A well-known author in Iran, Marquez is also the author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera."