A huge swastika has been discovered at the bottom of a swimming pool in Brazil.

A helicopter from the Civil Police noticed the Nazi emblem in a home in Pomerode, Brazil in the southern state of Santa Catarina while assisting a kidnapping this week.

The homeowner, who has not been identified, denied he was promoting Nazism and told police the swastika had been there for 13 years.

Santa Catarina has a history of European immigration including Germans and Austrians and organises the popular Oktoberfest in Blumenau every year.

After World War Two, Brazil became a bolt-hole for scores of wanted Nazi war criminals.

Josef Mengele the notorious physician of Auschwitz - dubbed the "Angel of Death" - who performed deadly and grotesque human experiments on thousands of prisoners, including many children who were twins, was among the most infamous Third Reich fugitives to find sanctuary in Brazil.