Dutch bookshops pull colouring books featuring Adolf Hitler from shelves

'We check the book on translations, but do not check all the colouring' publisher's spokesperson says

The colour-by-numbers image shows Hitler giving a Nazi salute and wearing a red arm band with a swastika (OUTALEXANDER SCHIPPERS/AFP/Getty Images)

A chain of Dutch bookshops has pulled colouring books featuring Adolf Hitler from its shelves and apologised.

The Kruidvat chain posted a statement on its website saying the colouring books, which went on sale this week, were immediately pulled from shelves after the discovery of an "inappropriate image".

The colour-by-numbers image shows Hitler giving a Nazi salute and wearing a red arm band with a swastika.

The colouring book also features images of Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln (AP)

Without directly referring to Hitler, the company said it is investigating how the image got into the books "despite various checks of the content".

A spokesperson for Belgian publisher Trifora told local media: "My suspicion is that the man who created the colouring book got a book of famous people out of the closet and selected a pair, which unfortunately included Adolf Hitler. Maybe he did not recognise him."

The book, which was produced in India, also featured images of Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln.

"It is a nasty combination of circumstances," the spokesperson added. "We check the book on translations, but do not check all the colouring pictures."

Customers returning the book can get their money back. It was not clear how many of the books were sold.

It comes after police in Austria arrested a man on suspicion of glorifying Nazism after allegedly impersonating the Nazi dictator at his birthplace.