Tuned Pod will not start triggering a warning Event - sysctl.conf not a directory

Issue

After using the Machine Config Operator to manage the /etc/sysctl.conf path, the Cluster Node Tuning Operator (CNTO) is now required to manage this file. After removing the relevant Machine Config objects and configuring the CNTO, the Tuned DaemonSet Pods will not start and are triggering a warning Event with the following message:

Error: container create failed: time=“$DATE_TIME” level=warning msg="exit status 1"
failed to write \"FROZEN\" to \"/sys/fs/cgroup/freezer/kubepods.slice/kubepods-burstable.slice/kubepods-burstable-$POD_ID.slice/crio-$CONTAINER_ID.scope/freezer.state\": open /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer/kubepods.slice/kubepods-burstable.slice/kubepods-burstable-$POD_ID.slice/crio-$CONTAINER_ID.scope/freezer.state: no such file or directory"
time="$DATE_TIME" level=warning msg="lstat /sys/fs/cgroup/devices/kubepods.slice/kubepods-burstable.slice/kubepods-burstable-$POD_ID.slice/crio-$CONTAINER_ID.scope: no such file or directory"
time="$DATE_TIME” level=error msg="container_linux.go:348: starting container process caused \"process_linux.go:438: container init caused \\\"rootfs_linux.go:58: mounting \\\\\\\"/var/lib/kubelet/pods//volume-subpaths/etc/tuned/4\\\\\\\" to rootfs \\\\\\\"/var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/$POD_ID/merged\\\\\\\" at \\\\\\\"/var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/$POD_ID/merged/etc/sysctl.conf\\\\\\\" caused \\\\\\\"not a directory\\\\\\\"\\\"\""
container_linux.go:348: starting container process caused "process_linux.go:438: container init caused \"rootfs_linux.go:58: mounting \\\"/var/lib/kubelet/pods/$POD_ID/volume-subpaths/etc/tuned/4\\\" to rootfs \\\"/var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/$POD_ID/merged\\\" at \\\"/var/lib/containers/storage/overlay/$POD_ID/merged/etc/sysctl.conf\\\" caused \\\"not a directory\\\"\""