SEOUL, May 28 (Reuters) - South Korean police said on Monday they were investigating allegations of animal cruelty by a group which ripped apart a live piglet to protest against the move of a military office to their area.

There has been public outrage after local media published photographs and video of the two-month-old piglet, which had its legs torn off and was beheaded at a rally attended by about 1,500 protesters.

The country's largest daily called the incident "an atrocity, pure and simple".

A police spokesman said several animal rights groups had lodged complaints and that an investigation had started.

The group responsible for last week's protest against the move of the military office from Seoul to Ichon, about 50 km (30 miles) southeast, said it regretted the incident.

In a statement posted on the Internet, the Ichon Citizens Committee Against the Base Relocation said: "We deeply apologise to the people of Ichon and Korean citizens for not preventing this from happening".

Animal rights groups have set up a memorial for the piglet at South Korea's War Memorial, local media reported.

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