Members of the Last Generation group sawed off the top of the Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. On Wednesday morning, two climate activists rolled out a banner on Pariser Platz in Berlin-Mitte that said “This is just the tip of the Christmas tree” on a lifting platform, as a police spokeswoman said and photos of the action show. Then they drove up the lifting platform to the top of the 15 meter high Nordmann fir.

The young women cut off the top of the tree there with a handsaw, as the last generation itself reported. “So far in Germany we have only seen the tip of the underlying catastrophe,” an activist explained the protest action. While all of Germany spends the week getting the best gifts from the biggest stores, others wonder where they get their water to drink after drought and floods have wiped out their crops.

The police were on site during the action and, according to their own statements, took three members of the group into custody. She is now being investigated for, among other things, damage to property. It is unclear why the officials did not stop the sawing off.