Some Czechs were amused, others appalled. Now they want to make sure their president never again feels the need to nab a pen.
More than 5,000 Czechs have signed up to a Facebook campaign to mail pens to Vaclav Klaus as a video of him sheepishly pocketing one he took an obvious liking to during an official signing ceremony last week in Chile became widely popular on the Internet.
Klaus says it's customary for leaders to keep pens after signing accords. But the manner in which he slipped the pen, encrusted with semiprecious Chilean stones into his pocket underneath the desk while grinning was criticized by some of his countrymen.
Vojtech Palous, a 23-year-old student of medicine from Prague, says Klaus's actions were "absolutely inappropriate."