By Stone Martindale Jul 5, 2008, 18:06 GMT
The controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler at Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday was decapitated by a man, according to reports.
A file picture dated 03 July 2008 shows the wax figure of Adolf Hitler on display at the wax figure cabinet 'Madame Tussaud's' in Berlin, Germany. A man tore the wax head off the effigy of Adolf Hitler in Berlin 05 July 2008, just minutes after the new branch of the Madame Tussaud‘s waxwork-museum chain opened for the first time to the public. German police said they detained the man, 41. He had crossed a rope barrier and touched the figure, and another member of the public tried to pull him away, with the head coming away in the melee. Museum staff subsequently removed the entire wax figure from the display. EPA/ARNO BURGI
The Associated Press reports that the 41-year-old German man got hold of the figure and ripped his head off in minutes, despite security.
The police then arrested the man; his motive was still not entirely clear.
The wax figure is of a sitting Adolf Hitler in a bunker during the last days of his life. The exhibit had its share of detractors and critics, and the AP notes that a special media preview was diverted by a fight at the exhibit.
The appearance of the notorious German leader was felt to be in bad taste by some, being placed alongside pop stars and other famous icons.
Tussauds noted that 25 workers spent about four months on the waxwork, using more than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of the "Fuehrer" in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where it is standing upright.
The Museum asks visitors to not snap photos with the Hitler figurine at the exhibit.
The AP reports that institutions like Germany's central Holocaust memorial site condemned the "tasteless" exhibit.
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