Police in Ghent inspected all vehicles in their fleet after photos of a police vehicle brandishing an offensive sticker targeting teen climate activist Greta Thunberg surfaced on social media.

A photo shared by a Twitter user shows an orange sticker reading “f*ck you Greta” pasted on the back of a police vehicle from Ghent.

The photo, which garnered dozens of likes and retweets, was also circulated on Facebook and prompted a swift reaction from the local police, who reportedly did not know of the sticker targetting 16-year-old Thunberg, a Swedish schoolgirl who has stirred thousands across the world into climate and environmental action.

“This is not what we stand for,” a police spokesperson told HLN. “We have therefore ordered that all vehicles be checked for unwanted stickers or other inscriptions.”

The vehicle in question has been found since the incident, which took place at the end of September, and the sticker removed, with police telling Het Nieuwsblad that it was probably put on the vehicle during a recent “car tuning” event.

Stickers, regardless of the message, are not allowed to be put on police cars, and the spokesperson said that similar incidents would be subject to an official report since the offence amounted to property damage.

On Sunday, images of a grey sports car completely covered in similarly offensive stickers aimed at Thunberg popped up on social media.

Large stickers with Thunberg’s face on them accompanied by messages such as “we love emissions,” “f*ck Greta” and “more power, more emissions,” adorned the car.

The vehicles owners, unidentified, told Het Nieuwsblad that Thunberg had “no sense of how the world works” and that they had received support from other people, with some even ordering stickers from them.

Gabriela Galindo

The Brussels Times