STOCKHOLM - Living up to a Scandinavian reputation for promiscuity, a homeless couple protesting a lack of housing in Stockholm placed a bed in the middle of a downtown square and had sex in front of numerous spectators, police said.
The demonstration took place Monday evening, and was the culmination of a week-long campaign by a group of Swedish homeless people demanding adequate shelter from the winter chill.
"They had a sign saying 'Even homeless people want to have sex', and then they did," police spokeswoman Carolin Karlsson told AFP. "They even had a dog at the foot of the bed."
For an hour and a half, the couple had sex under the covers, before police, summoned by multiple calls from offended onlookers, broke up the party.
Many families with young children were especially offended, while a number of spectators took the opportunity to take pictures of the lovemaking with their cellphone cameras, according to Swedish media at the scene.
Media also reported that the couple's fornication continued even after they had been taken into police custody in the back of a police van.
Police did not, according to Karlsson, arrest the couple, but simply drove them to a social center for urgent cases where they could spend the night -- away from public scrutiny.
"They did commit a crime, causing a public disturbance, but we didn't see any reason to arrest them," she said.