BERLIN (AP) — An angry artist has managed to get Twitter to remove hateful tweets — after writing them out in spray paint in front of the company's German headquarters in Hamburg.

Shahak Shapira says he reported some 300 tweets containing possible illegal content to Twitter over a period of about six months but the social networking company had ignored him.

This occurred at a time when the Twitter was arguing against tough new legislation in Germany, insisting it was already taking sufficient measures against hate speech.

Shapira told The Associated Press that he sprayed almost 30 of the offending tweets on Friday because "flagging things clearly wasn't enough."

The stunt received widespread attention and by late Wednesday Twitter had deleted three tweets, suspended four accounts and withheld another seven accounts in Germany.