Police in Germany are treating a blaze at Kassel Airport as possible politically motivated arson after three construction vehicles burned and other equipment was damaged. Specialist investigators from the state security unit now handle the case because the site is tied to Rheinmetall.

The firm selected the airport this year for a 30,000 square meter plant next to its Kassel factory that employs about 2,000 people making tactical vehicles. Two months ago Rheinmetall and Hesse officials agreed the location would also host drone research and Bundeswehr training flights. Similar low-level incidents have hit European defence sites, and activists blocked rail lines from a Rheinmetall plant to Hamburg docks in September.