Lewisham police came under fire for a St Patrick's Day tweet showing a shamrock made out of handcuffs.
People were offended for a number of reasons.
There were those who claimed it threatened Irish people.
Wow. Lewisham Police threatening their Irish residents. https://t.co/xmUmJ07C9o
— Captain Afab (@captain_afab) March 17, 2016
Others were more concerned that the photo was originally from an anti-drink-driving poster in the US.
ahhhh this #StPatricksDay tweet by lewisham police gets even worse – the image they used was from this poster pic.twitter.com/AMVZ8RsfcX
— Max Benwell (@Max_Benwell) March 17, 2016
Some people pointed out the artistic faults and that the handcuffs actually made the shape of a four-leaf clover, not a shamrock.
@Scraggsy @MPSLewisham Absolutely nothing, unless you think green handcuffs in a four leaf clover shape is offensive. Shamrock is 3-leaved.
— Wendy Grimsdale (@gwenodine) March 17, 2016
And others saw the funny side.
@MPSLewisham i'm irish and live in london and thought the tweet was very creative and funny, in future ignore the offence mongers
— Fitzy (@Fitzchiv15) March 17, 2016
Lewisham police have since removed the original tweet and issued an apology.
Apologies for any offence caused by our earlier tweet, that was not our intention at all - hope everyone has a great #StPatricksDay
— Lewisham MPS (@MPSLewisham) March 17, 2016
What do you think - harmless fun or reason to be offended?
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