Vandals daubed a swastika on one of the slabs that make up the Holocaust memorial in downtown Berlin. A member of the staff who watches over the sea of 2,711 concrete markers that make up the memorial near the Brandenburg Gate had discovered the vandalism, police said.

The police report also referred to a number combination found at the same time without being specific. The numeral 88 is used by neo-Nazis to refer to the 8th letter of the alphabet and is interpreted as HH – or Heil Hitler.

Vandalism to Holocaust memorials is treated in Germany as a crime against democracy.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident.