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Mystery in Germany: Who stole Bavaria's giant wooden penis?

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Mystery in Germany: Who stole Bavaria's giant wooden penis?
The statue has been a popular landmark for hikers.

Police are investigating the mysterious disappearance of a wooden penis “monument” about two-metres high in the Allgäu region.

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At the weekend, the sculpture, which had stood for years on the 1738-metre-high Grünten mountain near Rettenberg in the Allgäu region, had disappeared without a trace.

As the "Allgäuer Zeitung" reported on Monday, only the stump and wood shavings remained of the phallic carving.

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"Someone must have sawed it over in a cloak-and-dagger operation," the owner of the nearby Grüntenhütte lodge told the newspaper.

Holger Stabik from the police headquarters in Kempten said on Monday that a preliminary investigation had now been initiated. 

Yet police are still faced with a mystery: "We do not know whether or not this is a criminal offence," a spokesperson said.

The wooden penis has become a popular selfie spot, as this photo from this summer shows. Photo: DPA

Because so far not even the owner of the sculpture is known, there is no party which can claim damages. It’s possible that even the owner himself had picked up the penis again. 

Nevertheless, Stabik said: "Every possible clue is being investigated - but so far there are none.”

The sculpture already made headlines in Germany a few weeks ago when it had to be "re-erected" after being knocked from its pedestal.

The mayor of Rettenberg said it was a "great pity" to lose an unusual attraction that had helped make the region so popular.

Who brought the wooden penis up the mountain years ago - and why - is still not known exactly.

Local legend has it that a man received the 200 kg statue as a prank gift, but hauled it up the mountain when his family was not happy with it.

It has become a popular photo destination for tourists, and has even been designated a "cultural monument" by Google Maps.

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