Oberstdorf (dpa / lby) – After the discovery of illegal construction work on a protected alpine torrent in the Allgäu, the police investigated on Monday in the district office in Sonthofen. Prosecutors and police officers questioned employees of the office as witnesses and secured further evidence, the police said. No further information can be given about the status of the investigation at this time.

An alpine cooperative had massively altered the strictly protected Rappenalpbach near Oberdorf over a length of 1.6 kilometers with an excavator. The district authority came under criticism because they had discussed certain work on the body of water with the cooperative. However, the authority emphasizes that the construction work was then much more extensive than agreed.

In an urgent procedure that was conducted before the administrative court in Augsburg, the alpine cooperative referred to a memorandum with which the office had allowed some work. However, the judges emphasized that it was a matter of expanding water bodies for which an approval procedure would have been necessary. The work carried out could also subsequently not be approved.

The criminal police are investigating on suspicion of endangering areas in need of protection. A person responsible for the cooperative is the suspect in the focus of the investigation.