Swastikas were painted on the grave of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and his wife Loki, police in Hamburg (North) said on Saturday, according to AFP.

The grave of Hemut SchmidtPhoto: Markus Scholz / DPA / Profimedia

“Red-painted swastikas were discovered on their graves in a cemetery in Hamburg on Friday evening and were immediately removed,” police said.

The police currently have no information about the person or persons who robbed the grave, nor about their motives. The investigation is ongoing.

Born in Hamburg on December 23, 1918, the social democrat Helmut Schmidt would have turned 105 years old on Saturday.

He died on November 10, 2015. He ruled West Germany from 1974 to 1982, at a time when the country was becoming a world economic power.

A staunch European who embodied “realpolitik” during the Cold War, he pioneered a new economic liberalism in German social democracy.