Berlin police say a man has ripped off the head of a wax figure of Adolf Hitler at Madame Tussauds’ newly opened branch in the German capital.

A police statement says the 41-year-old man tore off the head of the figure shortly after the museum opened to the public on Saturday morning.

They say officers were alerted and the man arrested.

The presence of the Nazi dictator’s figure in the new museum led to criticism in German media over recent weeks. But defenders of the plan argued Hitler’s role in German history could not be ignored.