Workers for Swiss seed company Syngenta on Tuesday planted genetically modified wheat on farmland in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It's the first-ever open air planting of its kind in the country. The planting of the wheat, which is expected to have better protection against fungal infections, took place while 30 police officers guarded the area. Two weeks ago, supporters of environmental organization Greenpeace had tried to sabotage the project by sowing several tons of ecological wheat on the grounds and partially succeeded in rendering the fields useless for the test with the genetically modified crop. Government officials announced that they would file a criminal complaint against the organization. The wheat is expected to be ready for harvest in September and will be destroyed except for a few plants that will be used for research. Saxony-Anhalt also plans to conduct tests with genetically modified corn and has set aside €100 million ($129 million) for research.