Terrapins painted with swastikas found in park

Anti-racism campaigners ‘plan to hold demonstration’ in park where terrapins were seen

Two turtles with anti-clockwise swastikas painted on their shells (KIRO7)

Terrapins with swastikas painted on their shells have been found living in a lake in the US.

At least two of the reptiles have been spotted with the symbols which local media said they had been carrying for more than a month.

Whoever painted the swastikas applied them in an anticlockwise direction. The Nazis employed the hooked cross – for thousands of years a religious and cultural symbol around the world – in a clockwise orientation.

Officials discovered the defaced animals after residents in Renton, a suburb of Seattle, reported them to police and posted images on social media, according to KIRO7.

One resident called the graffiti “bizarre”.

City officials have drafted in federal colleagues to help capture and scrub the terrapins, which will also be given health checks, KIRO7 reported.

Anti-racism campaigners reportedly plan to hold a demonstration in the park where the animals were seen.