High street chemists group Kruidvat has withdrawn a colouring book it had on sale after a client pointed out one of the pictures was of Adolf Hitler, complete with swastika.

‘Nice colouring book you’ve got there,’ client Oompie Lay said on Kruidvat’s Facebook time line, with a photo of the completed picture.

The book had been on sale at selected stores for several days and on Tuesday went on general release. ‘When we realized there was an inappropriate picture in the book, we decided immediately to withdraw the book from sale, in both shops and online,’ a spokesman told broadcaster NOS.

The book, Kleuren op Code, was printed in India and produced by a Belgian publisher, NOS said. It covers important people from the past and includes Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln.

‘We had carried out multiple checks on the contents but missed this,’ the spokeswoman said.