| This is a low-grade insurgency. We've had a taste of it in Seattle and it could worsen here too if we don't push back. |
Scholz was not at home at the time, but his wife, who is a member of the Hamburg state legislature, was woken by the noise and called police. The paint spoiled the wall and one layer of a double-glazed window was broken.
Militants, thought to be communist-aligned, have repeatedly paint-bombed homes or set fire to the parked cars of government officials and industry executives in Hamburg and Berlin over the past couple of years. One target last year was the Hamburg home of Thomas Mirow, state secretary of the finance ministry. No one has been physically hurt.
The frequency of attacks in the two cities peaked just before the Group of Eight (G8) summit on the Baltic coast in June.
Police have made no arrests in Hamburg.
In Berlin, many fleet cars belonging to big corporations or very luxurious models were set on fire before the summit, but the attacks have continued, reaching a 2007 tally of 100 politically motivated car-burnings this week. Last year the tally was 36. Berlin police say they have identified 14 young leftists as suspects. One of them has been convicted.