Caitlyn Jenner's Woman of the Year award 'insulting'

Caitlyn Jenner poses for a photo at the backstage inspiration wall at the 2015 Glamour Women of the Year awards. Photo / Getty

A US police officer has returned his late wife's Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year award after this year's prize was awarded to Caitlyn Jenner.

Moira Smith, also a police officer, was posthumously awarded the prize in 2001 for her bravery in rescuing people from the World Trade Center during the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

In an open letter posted to Facebook, her husband James described Jenner's award as "insulting" to his late wife's memory, writing that he was "shocked and saddened" by the decision. "Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man [sic]?"

Glamour Magazine told the New York Daily Post they did not feel Jenner's accolade diminished Smith's award, and stood by their decision.

- nzherald.co.nz