Local politicians had covered the offending text with stickers, and now a Moroccan-Dutch man from Naarden is hoping to take legal action against local broadcaster RTV Noord Holland for its ‘jihad family’ poster.

The poster, which has appeared all over the region, asks ‘Are other jihad families living in ‘t Gooi?’. The poster refers to the fact a local family with six children were said to have been planning to move to Syria last year and were stopped by police.

The police complaint states the man feels the poster is spreading hatred and fear and reminds him of events during World War II, news agency ANP says. He also says that neighbours keep asking him if he is a member of a jihad family or if he has had enough of living in the Netherlands.

Local Labour and Socialist politicians said last week when the posters first emerged that they were concerned about the impact and implied racism. ‘As soon as I think things can’t sink any lower, then they do,’ former Socialist MP Tofik Dibi said on Twitter.

However, RTV NH director Paul van Gessel said he did not understand the uproar. ‘We focus on a theme which is important in a region,’ he told current affairs show Dit is de Dag. ‘Jihad fighters are an issue in ‘t Gooi. We are a journalistic organisation and we ask questions.’