Christmas Trees Defiled in Seven Cities by Eco-Warriors

Protesters sprayed Christmas trees with orange paint in seven German cities to protest climate change.

In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, activists from the Letzte Generation (Last Generation) filmed themselves spraying jets of paint on a tree in a public space and said that they did so in Berlin, Oldenburg, Kiel, Leipzig, Rostock, Nuremberg and Munich.

In a follow-up post on X, Letzte Generation wrote alongside photos of activists and orange Christmas trees: "We call: Let us do everything peaceful together to prevent a world that is 3 degrees hotter. We can't rely on governments and corporations to do this. We ourselves are called upon to take action and engage in civil disobedience."

Newsweek reached out to Letzte Generation via email for comment on Wednesday.

The group, which the Los Angeles-based Climate Emergency Fund finances, wants the German government to stop using fossil fuels. It also wants to establish a people's council of 150 Germans to develop ideas for dealing with the climate crisis and present them to parliament.

It follows a series of other stunts by the organization, which, following similar actions by other international organizations like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, mainly involve sit-ins in front of traffic and activists sticking themselves to the road. The activists are known as Klimakleber or "climate stickers."

Last year, the activists glued themselves to the painting Landscape during a Thunderstorm with Pyramus and Thisbe by Nicolas Poussin at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. Members of the same organization also glued themselves to the frame of the Sistine Madonna by Raphael in Dresden.

In April, hundreds of Letzte Generation members blocked roads during rush hour in Berlin, leading to police and politicians calling for longer prison sentences and preventive detention for climate activists.

In September, an activist was sentenced to eight months in prison without parole for taking part in a street blockade and gluing herself to the road, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported. The same month, activists sprayed paint on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

In May, Bavarian police raided the homes of seven of the group's leaders as part of an investigation into whether the group can be designated a criminal organization.

In another tweet, Letzte Generation said its "next mass occupation in Berlin" will be held on February 3, 2024. The organization did not provide any additional details about the planned protest.

Newsweek reached out to the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community via email for comment.

Update 12/13/23, 10:12 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.