The crimes occurred in Berlin, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Brandenburg. Most of the objects, weighing up to 150 kilograms, were stolen from Berlin cemeteries, including a bronze figure worth at least 60,000 euros. A third defendant, aged 57, received a two-year suspended sentence for commercial handling of stolen goods.
Presiding Judge Johannes Schwake emphasized the intangible damage: ‘The intangible value cannot be measured.’ Particularly outrageous was the theft from a children’s cemetery – ‘that is not only disrespectful, an outrageous act of baseness, words fail me.’ Police had repeatedly appealed to the public for information about the artworks. Tips eventually led them to the couple. During a search, investigators found a hiding place behind stair beams in their house. All stolen objects except one figure were returned.
Source: www.faz.net
