Man releases crickets in Trier Cathedral; police open worship-disruption case

At midday on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, a 72-year-old man released Mediterranean field crickets from a cardboard box in the area of the Holy Robe Chapel in Trier Cathedral, causing what police called a loud chirping concert. A witness followed him and called police, who found him carrying another box labeled for 500 crickets; the cathedral caretaker later counted about 50. Police opened criminal proceedings against him on suspicion of disrupting religious worship; he gave no motive. The affected chapel was closed for about an hour while the caretaker removed the insects; the Diocese of Trier said there was no damage or danger to people or artworks and filed no complaint of its own.

Deliberate disruption inside a cathedral, mapped to incidentType raid as with earlier disruption cases; no damage reported, so structuresDamaged is 0. Kirche-und-Leben notes an apostle's head was severed from a figure in the same cathedral last year. Coordinates are the Nominatim place_of_worship pin for Dom St. Peter zu Trier.