Austria pulls Aphrodite statue given by Hitler

VIENNA (Reuters) - The Austrian city of Linz has removed a statue of Aphrodite from a park after learning that it was a present from Hitler, officials said on Friday.

Authorities in Austria's third largest city said they checked the origins of the bronze statue after someone left an unsigned note on it stating that the statue of the Greek goddess of love was a gift from the Nazi leader.

Research in Linz's city archives determined that the claim was correct and the statue was immediately removed and put in storage, a city statement said.

"By removing the statue, the city of Linz is continuing a consistent (practice) of coming to terms with the Nazi past."

The statue had been mounted on a pedestal in a small colonnaded pavilion in a Linz park since 1942, when Austria was part of Hitler's Third Reich.

Hitler was born in the small town of Braunau not far from Linz, which is around 120 km (70 miles) west of Vienna.

(Reporting by Mark Heinrich; editing by Sami Aboudi)