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The Schmooze

Swastika Crop Circle Trampled Into German Cornfield

They may be illegal in Germany, but that didn’t stop an alleged group of neo-Nazis from creating a swastika crop circle the size of a tennis court in a cornfield in Aßling, Bavaria.

As the British tabloid the Daily Mail reported yesterday, authorities believe the perpetrators trampled the ground to create the shape — so big that it is visible from the air, and so precise that “authorities believe they are dealing with hard-core neo-Nazis, rather than drunken yobs” (their words, not ours).

The swastika was first reported by a photographer, who saw the image while flying over the field.

But this is not the first time something like this has happened. The article also notes an incident in 2000, in which “German authorities chopped down dozens of russet-colored larch trees that had been planted to form a giant swastika in a forest of evergreen pines.”

Regardless of the method, the perps better take heed: Displaying a swastika in Germany can carry a hefty punishment: up to three years in jail.

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