A Danish couple has ran off to Guatemala after their Swedish eco-retreat became the focus of a tax investigation by authorities. 

 

Chefs Flemming Hensen and Mette Helbaek abandoned their south Sweden eco-retreat named Stedsans, leaving 158 barrels of human waste at their hotel which is now seeping into a nearby forest. 

 

Staff at the retreat have told media that several ducks died after the couple left them outside in the night while other animals were also abandoned.

 

The couple operated a successful restaurant in Copenhagen before claiming to have felt "the call of the wild", leading to the establishment of their hotel in Halland, Sweden. 

 

They opened Stedsans, spreading over 16 wooden cabins, in 2016 to much fanfare. By then the two already owed millions of kroner to Danish government in taxes. 

 

The couple have now established a retreat in Guatemala. 

 

On their website, they wrote: "When you read this we have probably been declared bankrupt by the Swedish tax authorities. All we ever wanted was to be a part of creating a more beautiful planet." 

 

Swedish officials are less flattering. Daniel Helsing, who leads the county's construction and environment department, said, "Voila. Over 150 barrels of human shit."