Swede's 21st birthday balloons mistaken for IS propaganda

 
'It was a little strange': Sarah Ericsson with boyfriend Fabian Åkesson (Picture: Facebook)
Sebastian Mann25 February 2015

A Swedish woman was told to remove birthday balloons from her window after police were called by a member of the public who thought they were Islamist propaganda.

Officers paid a visit to the home of Sarah Ericsson after being alerted to the decorations - which spelt "21" from the inside but from the outside apparently looked like "IS".

Ms Ericsson wasn't in but her boyfriend Fabian Åkesson was. He told Swedish newspaper Kvällsposten he was brushing his teeth when the police turned up

He said officers quickly realised their mistake but still asked him to take the balloons down.

"I laughed about it and they showed me a photo that they had taken where from their perspective, it did almost look like the letters IS," he said.

"They asked me to take down the balloons to avoid further misunderstanding.

"We laughed some more about it all and they wished me a nice day, and wished my girlfriend a belated Happy Birthday."

Speaking to English language Swedish website The Local, Ms Ericsson said the incident was a "little strange", adding: "I'm so surprised at all the attention. I will never forget my 21st birthday!"

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