On Saturday evening, May 5, the police were called to the Lutheran Böhler church in Plettenberg, because a witness had found "people rioting" there. Upon arrival the police found that the door had been smashed in and the wooden panelling was broken. The interior was "a picture of devastation", according to reports. The baptismal font was knocked over, a candelabra was torn down and a window was damaged. The organ on the upper floor was also demolished, as were parts of the roof truss. The damage is estimated by the presbytery to be at least 50,000 euros.
The police searched the church for the perpetrators and found two people in the bell tower: a 24-year-old woman from Hamm and a 21-year-old man of no fixed abode. The two drunk offenders were taken into police custody in Lüdenscheid. According to the police, there was "considerable resistance" from the young people at the police station, "who spat at the officers, punched and kicked, as well as insulting and threatening the officers".