Items stolen from Manchester United air disaster memorial in Munich

The Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation said it was "deeply saddened" after items remembering victims of the 1958 Munich air crash were stolen from a memorial at Manchesterplatz in Munich on Monday. Munich Police told local reporters the glass case had been smashed with a stone and believed the theft occurred between 08:00 and 13:00 local time.

The memorial marks the site of the plane crash on 6 February 1958 that killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, after the aircraft stopped to refuel in Munich and crashed while attempting to take off. A memorial stone was installed in 2004; a glass display case was added in 2020 and was officially inaugurated in 2023.

German newspaper Hallo München reported pieces were taken from the glass display case at Manchesterplatz. Munich Police told local reporters the case had been smashed with a stone.

The Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation said Manchester United had offered to pay for the memorial to be repaired, but the foundation had agreed to cover the costs itself. Its chair, Ifty Ahmed, said: "Those responsible may have damaged a display case and stolen treasured items, but they cannot steal our memories, diminish our friendship or destroy the legacy of those we remember."

Mark Salzmann, chairman of Red Docs Munich, told BBC News his mother discovered the damage while driving past; she stopped after noticing something was wrong and found the glass had been smashed. He said a glass sculpture originally presented to Munich's former mayor, Dieter Reiter, was among the stolen objects, along with several medals. Salzmann said his group collects tributes left at the memorial by supporters from around the world and places some of them in the display case.

The foundation thanked Red Docs Munich, a Bayern Munich supporters' group which helps care for the memorial, for acting quickly to repair the damage, and the broken glass was replaced the same day. Salzmann said the messages of support he had received showed the importance of the memorial and the friendship which "will never go away" between the cities of Manchester and Munich.

The Manchester Munich Memorial Foundation said the memorial was particularly important to the families of those who had perished in the tragedy, as well as Manchester United supporters around the world, and the BBC has contacted Munich Police and Manchester United for comment.