Local Law Enforcement
Around 50 vehicles have been smeared with what seems to be human blood in the German city of Hanau near Frankfurt, police confirm authorities.
Vehicles, exterior walls and mailboxes were defaced, in some cases with Nazi symbols, they announced in a release.
Law enforcement state they were contacted late on Wednesday night, when a individual noticed that a vehicle in the Lamboy district of Hanau had been covered with a reddish liquid.
The fluid had been drawn in the pattern of a Nazi symbol, they stated.
Police then located multiple other vandalized cars and building exteriors in the surrounding area.
Swastikas are illegal in Germany under laws banning the visible presentation of Nazi-era symbols.
Law enforcement say preliminary tests indicate the substance was likely human blood.
"Currently there is no indication as to its source; authorities are presently not aware of any injuries in connection with the incident," they commented.
Local authorities stated they were trying "to solve the mystery" and have asked to the residents for information.
A senior representative said the vandalism left him without words and had to be solved rapidly.
"This incident strikes at the very heart of Hanau and reawakens the trauma of the right-wing attack half a decade ago," he wrote on online, referring to the murder of nine victims by a gunman aiming at individuals of immigrant origin in five years prior.
