Canterbury Police acknowledge Chinese New Year of the Pig with special tweet

Canterbury Police's Twitter game is strong. Photo / Twitter

Normally, police officers don't take kindly to jokes or references to being pigs, however, the folks behind the Canterbury Police Twitter account are different.

Two-thousand-and-nineteen is officially the Year of the Pig according to the Chinese zodiac, something the Twitter account has recognised.

"We don't even know where to start with this but here goes ... Happy Lunar New Year! Ahem..." Canterbury Police NZ wrote on Twitter.

Beneath the caption was a photo which features a cartoon pig and the words beside it read, "Celebrate the Year of the Pig 2019".

Since the tweet was posted five hours ago, over 150 users have liked it and it has been shared over 30 times, including by the national Police Twitter.

"You guys are excellent twitterers," one user wrote in response to the tweet. "Well played, only 354 more days to go," said another.

In the comments from the post which was retweeted by New Zealand Police, one user commented to say pigs are actually hard done by.

"By the way, pigs are caring, unique, self-sacrificing, obliging, sensible, creative, empathetic, tactful, and prudent in Chinese Astrology," one wrote.

"Does it make me respectful to admit this took me a while?" another person admitted.