Germany fells forest swastika. Fall colors have always brought an embarrassment to one tranquil German village. When the needles turned golden brown, the trees suddenly formed a swastika visible from the air. No one remembers how the pastoral plains north of Berlin wound up with the lasting Nazi symbol more than 60 years ago. What ever the history, local officials want to make sure the pat no longer flowers in the rural village of Zernikow- and chain saw crews moved in Monday to take the trees down. Forest wardens thought they had banished Adolf Hitler's ghost five years ago when they cut down some of the larches, which change colors in the fall and contrast with surrounding evergreen pines to form a swastika. but the remaining trees grew to fill in the spaces, and the symbol was visible again this fall. Officials in the eastern state of Brandenburg say the relic near Zernikow, 60 miles north of Berlin, is an eyesore in that area they would rather have known for the natural beauty of its lakes and heaths. They also got tired of the publicity, hardly helpful for a region that often makes headlines because of racist violence, and apparently feared the forest could attract neo- Nazi pilgrims. " This is something of a wound, so we really want to do something." state agriculture minister spokesman Jens-Uwe Schade said. Why the conifers were planted to honor the Führer it is a mystery that's hard to unravel decades later. A local forestwarden is believed to have planted them in 1938, Schade said. German media have offered at least two theories about the reason: He wanted to help the local manor owner show he was a good Nazi or, a simple conformist, he acted on Nazi orders. Either way, chain saws broke the morning silence at the 200- by 200 foot site Monday as forest workers began felling 245 of the 57 trees, hoping to break up the offensive pattern once and far all. Schade said forest swastikas were planted at several places during the Nazi era, but others had been removed long ago. For a dedicated forester, Monday' s tree clearing also had a sad note,- because larches have a life span of a good 200 years. Politically , it is correct to destroy the witness to those times, said forester Ulrich Koch. But unfortunately we are also bringing down larches we would rather have left standing. This in a story I read today in the paper. Katharina _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com