A shopper had to be kicked out of Asda by police after becoming enraged about gay pride gnomes.
The garden ornaments had been painted in the colours of the rainbow flag, and the man said this offended him.
Four officers attended the Estover branch in Plymouth, Devon, at around 4.25pm on Saturday following reports of an abusive male shouting at staff.
An eyewitness said: ‘[A man was] causing a disturbance over a gnome, sort of gay pride flag colours, which I’m all for.
‘The guy started saying random things like it’s a gnome, it’s offended him as they don’t have a sexuality.
‘I’m assuming the guy was offended as they look like they have a gender, that’s the bit I caught of the situation.’
imagine being homophobic about GARDEN GNOMES pic.twitter.com/0ULlLdClUO
— Josh Salisbury (@josh_salisbury) July 2, 2019
A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said the man was ‘abusive and loud’ and ‘was advised to leave the store by officers at the scene’.
The irate shopper ‘eventually’ co-operated, he added.
Asda sells a range of ‘pride’ products and in 2017 launched a multicoloured gnome in support of pride events across the country.
A spokeswoman for the chain confirmed that a member of staff called the police after a man was ‘highly aggressive’ in the store.
She added: ‘We don’t accept threatening or abusive behaviour towards colleagues or customers.’
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