Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters has come under criticism for selling a 'blood stained' university top with the crest of a US university where a shooting famously took place.
The Kent State University sweatshirt featured blotches of dark red as well as small holes in the top left hand side.
Many people questioned the appropriateness of selling the item considering the Ohio-based university was the scene of a school shooting in which four students were killed in 1970.
The tragedy has become known as the May 4 Massacre or the Kent State Massacre and involved a number of Ohio National Guard members who fired at unarmed demonstrators protesting against military operations in Cambodia at the time.
A description of the garment on the retailer’s site read: "Washed soft and perfectly broken in, this vintage Kent State sweatshirt is cut in a loose, slouchy fit. Excellent vintage condition. We only have one, so get it or regret it!"
The item was soon sold and removed from the site by Urban Outfitters, but not before receiving backlash on social media.
Appropriating Native American culture is so mainstream now that Urban Outfitters are making money from mass shootings pic.twitter.com/yypPJqgSg6
— Dean TÄne Ward (@Maccadaynu) September 15, 2014
Urban Outfitters has yet to respond.
This isn’t the first time the retailer has been criticised for its clothes. Urban Outfitters removed the sale of a t-shirt online which had the word "depression" repeatedly emblazoned across it.
The store defended the use of the word saying Depression is the name of the clothing company who made the t-shirt.
The retailer was also previously accused of glamourising eating disorders after it was found selling a top with the words "Eat Less" written on it.
