Ikea issue denial after pranksters share fake image of Nazi swastika table

The image was quickly picked up by social media users and rapidly shared online

Two people have been killed and one left with life-threatening injuries at an Ikea store near Stockholm (Getty)

Ikea has been forced to issue a vehement denial after an online hoax claimed the international furniture store was selling a Nazi swastika table.

A photograph claiming to be from the Italian catalogue showed the Hadølf table, on sale for 88 euros, was quickly picked up by social media users and reported on by some German media outlets.

In a statement a spokesperson for Ikea said: “It is of course clear that such a table is not part of our program, either in Italy or anywhere else”.

It is believed the table may have been made by Berlin-based artist David Roze in 2011. It was a mirror image of a swastika and had words such as “peace” and “prosperity” written along the edges, according to some media reports.

If the hoax wasn’t obvious enough, the pranksters choice of price was also a clear give away.

The number 88 has long been associated with the Nazi leader’s address “Heil Hitler”, as “H” is the eighth letter in the alphabet. Still, social media users showed less scepticism and immediately pounced on the image with many continuing to share the fake photograph.