GETTY A Syrian man was allegedly caught masturbating next to a children's playground in Vienna

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Parents had notified the police after they spotted the 25-year-old in the courtyard of a street in Vienna's Favoriten district. According to police spokesman Thomas Keiblinger, the Syrian national was watching the children in the playground while he was masturbating.

When he saw the parents of the children calling the police, he fled the scene, according to local police. The police eventually managed to apprehend the unnamed Syrian man because the parents were able to give a detailed and thorough description. They then identified him a short while later and he was arrested.

GETTY The 25-year-old was seen in the courtyard of a street in Vienna's Favoriten district

It is currently unclear whether he has been charged. Earlier this year Austria passed a raft of tough new laws allowing authorities to seal off the border to all migrants.

GETTY The police said the Syrian was watching the children in the playground while he masturbated