Cookie monster, Neo-Nazi symbol: German police say members are handing out leaflets with Sesame Street character's face to try and recruit children

Neo Nazi Steffen Lange, 31, dressed as the popular children’s TV character

He walked into a school in Senftenberg, Germany, and handed out leaflets

The man and an accomplice were arrested and their homes searched

Computers were discovered which showed far right material



Sesame Street's Cookie Monster has become a symbol for far right extremists after he was used to help recruit children, according to German police.



In the latest incident Neo Nazi Steffen Lange, 31, dressed as the popular children’s TV character, walked into a school in Senftenberg, in the German state of Brandenburg, and together with another Neo-Nazi handed out pamphlets to children.

The Monster and his accomplice were arrested after a teacher complained to police about the contents of the leaflets.



A search of the home of the two men found computers with far right material and other Neo Nazi Cookie Monster-related pamphlets.

German police say the Sesame Street Cookie Monster has become a symbol for far right extremists after he was used to help recruit children

A police spokesman also confirmed that the Sesame Street character was increasingly being abused as a symbol of the far right seen in Brandenburg and in particular in helping to recruit children and to get them interested in the right-wing scene.

One of the images found on the Internet shows the cookie monster with Adolf Hitler and other admirers under the caption: 'Who ate my biscuit'.

A police spokesman investigating the scene in Brandenburg said: 'There is nothing humorous about far right ideology despite the fact they are trying to trivialise it by getting the Sesame Street character involved.

'It’s an attempt to make it seem harmless and every day and perhaps something a bit fun and a bit rebellious.'