Memorial tree for CSD attack victims torn from ground in Berlin's Tiergarten
Unknown persons have pulled the memorial tree for victims of the Islamist CSD attack in Berlin out of the earth. Police are investigating on suspicion of criminal property damage.
Fresh desecration of CSD memorial site in Tiergarten
Unknown persons tore the memorial tree for victims of the Islamist attack on the Berlin CSD from the ground overnight. As tagesspiegel.de reports, a spokesman for the police situation centre confirmed the incident when asked.
"The tree was forced out of the earth," said the police spokesman. A patrol noticed the damaged tree at around 1.30 a.m. whilst passing by. The protective grill was also pulled from the ground; further objects in the surrounding area were damaged or partly destroyed. Police have launched an investigation on suspicion of criminal property damage.
Werner Graf, the Green Party parliamentary group leader in Berlin, reacted with shock. "I am full of anger and dismay, but also defiant," said Graf. The queer community would not abandon the fight for freedom. Addressing all queer Berliners, he declared: "You are not alone. We will plant this tree again. As many times as it takes."
Berlin's Queer Commissioner Alfonso Pantisano was equally stunned. "What is happening at this memorial site right now is unacceptable. It hurts people again and again – and it must have consequences now," Pantisano wrote on Instagram. He appealed to the Berlin interior administration and police: "Protect this site! Ensure that these acts are consistently investigated and those responsible are identified."
Steffen Krach, leading candidate of the Berlin SPD for the forthcoming House of Representatives election, also expressed shock. The memorial site in the Tiergarten must be better protected, the tree replanted and the bench reinstalled, Krach said. "Our message must be clear: Berlin protects its sites of remembrance, if necessary also 24/7 with video surveillance," he stated.
The incident is part of a series of attacks on the memorial site. Earlier in the week, the rainbow bench, which had been installed after the attack, was severely damaged. The Mitte district office subsequently removed it completely; it is to be repaired.
The tree and bench had been installed as a memorial site just under two weeks after the terrorist attack on 25 July. At the location of the tree felled in the attack, the Mitte district office had planted a new maple and had a rainbow-coloured bench erected beside it. In the Islamist attack, a 21-year-old attacker killed one woman and injured 31 further people; he was shot dead by police a day later.
Source: Google News LU DE