A World War II-era Panther tank is prepared for transportation from a residential property in Heikendorf, northern Germany
Authorities seized a 45-ton Panther tank, a flak cannon and multiple other World War II-era military weapons in a raid on a 78-year-old collector’s home in northern Germany, prosecutors said Friday.
Kiel prosecutor Birgit Hess said the collector, whose name she would not release for privacy reasons, is being investigated for possibly violating German weapons laws but remains free while the probe is ongoing.
In the search Wednesday and Thursday investigators also seized a torpedo and multiple other military items in addition to the Panzer V “Panther” tank and the 88mm flak gun, Hess told The Associated Press. German military engineers were called in to haul the tank out of the underground garage of the house in Kitzeberg, near Kiel.
The collector’s attorney, Peter Gramsch, told the dpa news agency all the items were properly demilitarized and registered.
Hess said that she did not know whether the main gun on the tank could fire, but it didn’t appear to be properly registered and an independent expert said it wasn’t properly demilitarized.
The collector came to authorities’ attention in an investigation into black market Nazi-era art that in May turned up two massive bronze horse statues that once stood in front of Adolf Hitler’s chancellery. Those were in the possession of another man, who maintains he is the rightful owner.
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