Berlin Holocaust memorial for LGBTQIA+ victims vandalised

A memorial to LGBTQIA+ people who died during the Holocaust has been vandalised in Berlin.

The Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism is dedicated to the systematic persecution of queer and trans people from 1933 to 1945.

During this period, it is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 LGBTQIA+ people were sent to concentration camps.

The targeted attack was one of two on the same day.

The second took place at the”Platform 17″ memorial, which honours the German Jewish people who were sent to their deaths during the Holocaust from the Grünewald train station.

In a statement, the Berlin-Brandenburg Lesbian and Gay Association decried both incidents:

“We are shocked by the inflammatory energy of both acts and hope that the person responsible in both cases will be caught quickly.”

Man in custody over alleged arson attack

Berlin police have a suspect in custody, identified as a 63-year-old man.

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He is accused of throwing a burning object at the LGBTQIA+ memorial in an attempt to set it on fire.

According to police, he is also accused of sticking pieces of paper with Bible verses on the memorial.

Additionally, he is suspected in an attempted arson of a lesbian club in Neukölln, leaving behind two pieces of paper with a modified quotation from the Bible condemning homosexuality.

German Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth condemned the vandalism and urged Germans to “stand together against enemies of democracy.”