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Ex-Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou risks heavy fine over Berlin Wall stunt

Football

By AFP | Mar 17, 2015

Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou could be fined up to 10,000 euros (US$10,535) for using a hammer and chisel on the Berlin Wall, which is under a protection order.

The ex-Chelsea star, who now plays for Hertha Berlin, was being filmed by a Berlin TV station as part of a report on their 2-2 Bundesliga draw with Schalke on Saturday.

**He was filmed chiseling the Berlin Wall by TV station ARD**

He mimicked breaking off a piece of the wall with the tools at the tourist attraction, the Eastside Gallery.

But what remains of the Berlin Wall, which divided Germany's capital from 1961-89, has been under a protection order since 1991.

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Anyone defacing it can be heavily fined with the authorities set to investigate whether any damage was done.

Berlin police confirmed to SID, an AFP subsidiary, that they are investigating a complaint against Kalou.

"I nearly fell off the sofa when I saw the footage," Kani Alavi, the chairman of the Eastside Gallery, told the Berliner Kurier newspaper.

"Here we have a well-paid celebrity increasing his market value at the expense of a national monument. Without respect. And with the clear backing of television.

"Just because there is no security patrolling the Gallery, doesn't mean you can go around doing what you want.

"If he had done that at the Brandenburg Gate, the player would probably have been arrested."