Rainbow memorial bench for CSD attack vandalised again

The rainbow-coloured memorial bench at Ahornsteig in Berlin's Tiergarten was vandalised for the third time in less than two months, in an attack reported widely around 10 October 2026. Police officers discovered the damage in the early hours of a Friday after noticing a strong smell of paint; unknown perpetrators had sprayed the bench extensively with black paint. The bench was erected on 6 August 2026 to commemorate the attack on the Berlin Christopher Street Day on 25 July, and was meant to invite passers-by to pause and show solidarity with the queer community. The most recent replacement had itself been installed after the original was destroyed in early September; a newly planted tree beside it was later uprooted. The state security division of the regional criminal police has taken over investigations, which treat the repeated attacks as politically motivated. LGBTQ advocacy groups and local politicians called for faster action and permanent protection of the memorial, which has become a symbol of Berlin's queer community.