TAIPEI, June 9 (Reuters) - A man who tore the wig off a telegenic Taiwan legislator last year was sentenced to five months in jail for depriving the MP of his freedom to look good, a court spokesman said on Tuesday.

The Taipei District Court sentenced Huang Yung-tien, 50, to jail for snatching the toupee off the head of ruling Nationalist Party lawmaker Chiu Yi. Chiu has become a household name for his media-friendly offensives against the political opposition.

"The judge thought Chiu Yi had the freedom to wear what he wanted, and Chiu felt the wig made him look prettier," court spokesman Huang Chin-ming said.

"The judge thinks that to remove it intentionally was to take away that right." Chiu lost his wig, revealing a mostly bald head, when he went to file a complaint against former president Chen Shui-bian in December.

Huang, the leader of pro-Chen group, called the sentence excessive, local media said. "I wasn't careful," he was quoted saying. "Carelessness is so severe?"

(Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by David Fox)