A painting at Nando’s looked like ‘British soldiers in a swastika’ (Picture: Kennedy News; Google)
Nando’s has removed a piece of artwork from one of their restaurants after a furious customer claimed it showed British soldiers ‘arranged in a swastika.’
Paul Watson, 58, ate at the Wallsend branch of the fast food chain in Tyneside last month, and took offence at a picture on the wall showing four soldiers pointing guns, allegedly in the shape of a swastika, inside a star and flower pattern.
Mr Watson, a former artilleryman, insisted the soldiers in the picture were British, and claimed the painting showed soldiers ‘depicted like a Nazi.’
After submitting a complaint, Nando’s claimed the artwork was created by an unknown South African artist as part of a scheme to showcase the country’s up-and-coming creators, and had been hanging in the restaurant since 2013 without incident.
The Nando’s was located in Wellsend, Newcastle (Picture: Google Street View)
However, the restaurant apologised for any offence they may have caused and removed the painting without complaint.
Mr Watson, from Fenham, Newcastle, initially tweeted Nando’s with a picture of the artwork, asking: ‘Any particular reasons this picture depicting British troops as a swastika flag is hanging in your restaurant at the Silverlink in Tyne and Wear?’
The engineer, who served six years in the Armed Forces including a tour of Northern Ireland, later said: ‘It’s done my head in. I had to ignore it for the meal. I’m made of sterner stuff than to move but I just didn’t like it being there.
‘I was pretty annoyed and thought it was bang out of order. It’s wrong and it angers me whether it’s innocent or not. It’s really offensive to see it in public. Someone should have picked up on that straight away. That’s not art.’
Former soldier Paul Watson took offence at the artwork (Picture: Kennedy News)
He added: ‘It seemed like they were saying the Armed Forces are Nazis. I was sitting next to it and when I looked across I had to look twice. I thought it was a swastika straight away.’
‘I was pretty annoyed and thought it was bang out of order. All these lads who go out and die, then they’re depicted like a Nazi.
‘It’s wrong and it angers me whether it’s innocent or not. It’s really offensive to see it in public.’
A Nando’s spokesperson said: ‘We commission the art in our restaurants from up and coming South African artists, the country in which we were founded, and they are all one of a kind.
‘We recognise that art is subjective and our intention is never to offend. We have removed it from display and apologise for any offence caused.
They added: ‘We source the art in our restaurants from up-and-coming artists in South Africa, the country in which we were founded, and they are all one of a kind.
‘This small piece was part of a bigger display along with 16 others and was in the restaurant for over a decade. It has now been removed from display.’
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