Grave of long-time German politician Wolfgang Schäuble desecrated
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An unknown person dug a hole at the grave of German politician Wolfgang Schäuble, one of the most influential figures in the country's post-War history, triggering an investigation by the state security.
Investigators said the hole measured around 1.2 metres deep and did not reach the coffin of Schäuble, who died in December at the age of 81.
Municipal employees noticed the excavated earth at the Waldbach cemetery in the south-western town of Offenburg on Monday morning, police and prosecutors said.
On Monday afternoon, a dpa reporter found only a rectangular-shaped area of dirt at Schäuble's cemetery plot. The wooden cross that had previously been present had also been removed.
According to a police spokesperson, there was no headstone before the damage discovered on Monday. Unspecified objects found on the grave were confiscated as evidence, and this could have included the cross.
There is currently no information on the background or motive of the incident, their statement said.
Schäuble was the longest-serving member of a democratic parliament in German history. The conservative politician, who held the positions of interior and finance minister, shaped German politics for decades.
He was recognized for having helped forge German reunification in 1990 and steering the eurozone through its debt crisis with sometimes unpopular prescriptions, like pressuring Greece into accepting tough austerity measures in 2009.
