The car belonging to Frauke Petry, leader of the anti-mass immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, was set alight last night in what is believed to be an arson attack.
Police in Leipzig have ruled out an technical defect as the cause, and suspect the car was deliberate burned by as yet unknown individuals. Berliner Morgenpost reports that no one has yet claimed responsibility.
Ms Petry took to Twitter after the incident, writing: “#Germany 2016. Yesterday there was an arson attack on my car. What has become of us…”
This is second arson attack against a car belonging to an AfD politician. Last year, unknown attackers set fire to that car of MEP Beatrix von Storch in Berlin.
The party has gained increasingly support as German voters become increasingly sceptical of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to open the borders to over a million migrants.
AfD has taken a strong stance against the policy and has increasingly become a thorn in the establishment’s side.
Two weeks ago, they came from nowhere to win 20.8 per cent of the vote in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommen state election, pushing Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats into third place.
The result was especially humiliating for the German Chancellor as it happened in her home state.
The state of Berlin goes to the polls tomorrow, with Mrs Merkel’s party looking set to suffer another serious defeat.