Police officers stand guard near the Reichstag, Germany's lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin.  (Photo: Reuters / Christian Mang)

Berlin, December 8 (RHC)-- Police have launched an investigation after a swastika was found scratched on an elevator door in the Bundestag offices in Berlin. Displaying the Nazi symbol is a criminal offense in Germany.

The discovery in the parliament building was made by a Green Party MP’s assistant, who posted a photo of the banned emblem on his Twitter account.   “Wtf... Today I went to the office, to the Bundestag, to do a few things and someone scratched this on an elevator door,” he wrote.  He swiftly informed the police about the swastika, and a probe was launched the same day.

The elevator in the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, an office building for the lawmakers, which is part of the Bundestag compound, has been taped off by police, local media reported.  Displaying a swastika and other Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany, with the offense carrying a three-year prison term.  An exception is only made for educational and artistic purposes.

German authorities have been sounding the alarm over the resurgence of right-wing sentiment in the country in the wake of the migrant crisis in the EU.  In 2019, pro-immigration politician and member of chancellor Merkel’s CDU party, Walter Lubcke, was assassinated by a neo-Nazi.

Earlier this month, Germany banned the right-wing extremist group, Wolfsbrigade 44, which allegedly wanted to re-establish a Nazi dictatorship in Germany.  Numerous homes of its members were raided, with weapons and Nazi memorabilia recovered.