title: How do I convert an ISO 8601 date time String to java.util.LocalDateTime?
body: <p>I am reading data from Wikidata. They represent their point in time property, P585 using ISO 8601 spec. However, the same beings with a +. </p>
  
  <p>If I were using Joda then converting the String to joda dateTime would have been very simple. </p>
  
  <pre><code>new DateTime(dateTime, DateTimeZone.UTC);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, when I do <code>LocalDateTime.parse("+2017-02-26T00:00:00Z")</code> I get an error saying can't parse the character at index 0. Is there a reason for this in Java 8. Joda does it pretty easily without any errors. </p>
  
  <p>I also tried <code>LocalDateTime.parse("+2017-02-26T00:00:00Z", DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME)</code> but in vain. </p>
  
  <p>How do we get around the Plus sign without having to remove it by string manipulation? </p>