Overview
- Berlin police reported that unknown perpetrators dismantled one wooden slat of the rainbow-coloured bench and caused damage to two other slats during the most recent incident.
- The Polizeilicher Staatsschutz of the Berlin Landeskriminalamt has opened an investigation to determine whether the damage was politically or ideologically motivated.
- The bench was rebuilt and returned to its original site on 14 September after being destroyed earlier in September, when several slats were broken with considerable force.
- The memorial bench and a planted tree were installed by the Bezirk Mitte after the 25 July CSD attack that killed one woman and injured dozens to serve as a place of remembrance and a symbol of diversity.
- If investigators conclude the attacks were targeted, the case could prompt increased protection of public memorials and further community debate over safety and how the city commemorates victims.