John A. Macdonald’s severed head featured on new stamps from Canada Post

The decapitated head in question is that which once belonged to the John A. Macdonald statue that was toppled on Aug. 29 in Montreal by a mob of angry agitators intending to strike a blow against "colonialism."

Canada Post's Picture Postage program allows people to put whatever image they choose—supposedly within reason—on legitimate and useable stamps, for a fee, of course. The service is typically used for stamps to adorn wedding invitations, and the like.

According to Global News, James Bone, who works at Library and Archives Canada, had the sheet of stamps made up and delivered to him for $68, and then posted a picture of them on Twitter three days ago, tweeting "please RT if f**k colonialism."

Bone also offered to give anyone who wanted a stamp for free, according to him, "if you or your ancestors were fucked over by Macdonald."

Many took to social media to chuckle with glee over the ill-conceived postage.

John A. Macdonald was Canada's first prime minister from 1867-73 and then again from 1878-91. He is considered to be Canada's greatest founding father, although his legacy has been recently embroiled in controversy over his stance on trade issues and his mistreatment of Canada's indigenous peoples.

Bone, for his part, is happy that his little "fun subversion" is newsworthy. "I think I just got lucky the first time around. Somebody was sort of asleep at the printer," he mused.

Canada Post has offered a formal apology and are currently investigating how the picture got past what should have been adequate filters.

A statement released by Canada Post reads, "This image does not meet the terms and conditions of the program and should not have been approved or printed. We apologize and will take measures to ensure our vetting and approval processes are strengthened and closely followed."