German police remove far-right black crosses

Police escort far-right protesters in the east German town of Chemnitz

Police in Germany have removed nearly 200 black crosses put up by far-right activists in the east of the country.

The spray-painted wooden crosses commemorating German people allegedly killed by foreigners were fixed to road signs or planted at the roadside.

Police are now investigating suspected incitement to racial hatred.

Officials say there is no evidence for far-right claims that foreigners have killed thousands of Germans since 1990, when Germany was reunified.

The black crosses began appearing in Germany in 2014, before a big influx of migrants to the country took place in 2015.

A number of crosses have since been put up every July in the years since.

The crosses put up this year appeared in the north-eastern federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. They bore xenophobic slogans such as "migration kills", "stop the death of the people" and "we don't forget German victims of foreigners".

Many appeared in impoverished areas. Local media quoted intelligence reports as saying that the far-right scene in the region was well organised and networked.