Pete Hegseth Turns Franklin the Turtle Into Killing Machine in X Post

Watch out! The Department of War's latest target is all of our childhoods ... Pete Hegseth turned beloved children's book character Franklin the Turtle into a bloodthirsty killing machine in an A.I.-generated pic posted Sunday.

Pete captioned the post, "For your Christmas wish list..." along with a fake book cover titled, "Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists."

The bogus cover depicts the 6-year-old turtle from the animated series going "Full Metal Jacket" -- hanging out of a helicopter, happily firing a missile at a manned boat while wearing a U.S. military vest. No sign of Franklin's best friend, Bear ... maybe he's storming the Capitol.

Pete -- reportedly a 45-year-old man, though you couldn't tell from his X account -- made the post following a report he ordered operatives to "kill everybody" on a Venezuelan boat, which was allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean on September 2.

According to The Washington Post, the boat was struck twice to comply with Pete's alleged order.

Former military lawyer Todd Huntley told the publication killing any of the men in the boats "amounts to murder" because we are not in a legitimate war with them ... and that if the alleged traffickers weren't able to fight, killing them may be considered "a war crime."