A Maine Democrat vying for a seat in the United States Senate said Wednesday he has covered up a tattoo on his chest after receiving fierce backlash over its resemblance to a Nazi symbol.

Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and first-time political candidate, got the tattoo back in 2007 during a night of drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia.

He claimed he chose a skull and crossbones off the wall at the tattoo parlor, unaware that it looked like the Totenkopf, which is German for “death’s head.” The symbol was primarily adopted by a notorious Nazi unit responsible for guarding concentration camps during World War II, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Platner has maintained that he only realized the ink bore a striking resemblance to Nazi imagery after “hearing from reporters

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