Tokyo cops arrest man for adding Hitler moustaches to Abe posters

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police on Friday announced the arrest of a 71-year-old man after he allegedly defaced political posters featuring Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reports Fuji News Network (Sep. 25).

On September 18, Takeshi Muto is alleged to have used an oil-based pen to draw a narrow moustache, very similar to that made famous by Adolf Hitler, on an image of Abe appearing on a poster hanging on a fence inside a parking lot in the Kanamorihigashi area of Machida City.

Muto, who has been charged with destruction of property, admits to the allegations. “In considering the current government, it was unavoidable,” the suspect is quoted by police.

According to police, Muto is believed to have been behind roughly 30 other similar incidents since July. In some cases, the posters were cut with a knife.

The posters are in support of the Liberal Democratic Party, for which Abe serves as president. “You play a leading role in the growth of the nation,” the poster’s slogan reads.