Dainty tea cups enrobed in poetry and roses showed up at Zurbrüggen stores in Germany bearing the face of Adolf Hitler with swastika to match. The image of the former Nazi dictator is banned in the country, but no one seems to know how this happened.

Zurbrüggen is a family-owned housewares and furniture chain, where 5,000 of the uncomfortable tea vessels were being sold, unbeknownst to the store's owner, Christian Zurbrüggen.

"Our workers are dismayed and embarrassed, the producer has apologized for the error, and we have apologized to our customers for this terrible mistake that resulted from a chain of unfortunate circumstances."

The original price for one tea cup was 1.99 € (around $2.75), and of the 175 sold, only 16 have been returned. The remaining stock has been destroyed, and Zurbrüggen is in communication with their manufacturers in China to figure out where this error originated from.

Many thanks and big ups to tea enjoyer Agnes T. for bringing the news of the mysterious whimsical cups to German newspaper Neue Westfälische.

[Image via New York Times]