Attackers threw incendiary devices early Sunday at the Berlin offices of the Robert Koch Institute, the infectious disease agency playing a leading role in Germany’s response to the coronavirus.
The incendiary devices were in the form of bottles, thrown at the building at around 2:40 a.m., Berlin police reported. A security guard witnessed the attack and extinguished the flames. No one was injured in the attack, which broke a window.
As a political motivation is being explored, state security officials have taken over the investigation, the police said.
While a majority of Germans support the government’s response to the pandemic, demonstrations against restrictions imposed to curb the virus drew thousands to Berlin over the summer. A similar march on Sunday attracted around 2,000 people to Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, Bild reported.