German authorities are investigating images projected onto the Tesla Gigafactory just outside Berlin that depicted Elon Musk apparently performing a Nazi-style salute at US President Donald Trump's recent inauguration.

The projection appeared on the outer facade of the electric vehicle factory in Grünheide, just outside the capital's city limits, on Thursday night, with the image of Tesla owner Musk accompanied by the German word "Heil" (hail).

In conjunction with the name of Musk's company, this formed the phrase "Heil Tesla" — a play on "Heil Hitler," the phrase which accompanied the use of the Nazi stiff-armed salute during dictator Adolf Hitler's time in power.

Musk made a gesture twice in quick succession during a speech in Washington at an event celebrating the start of Trump's second term in office. The move has sparked a debate as to whether his raised-arm gesture constituted a Nazi salute, and has been celebrated by US white nationalists.

Now, German security services have launched an investigation into the suspected use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations, including the depicted salute itself, the use or display of which is illegal in Germany.

"After an appraisal by the responsible public prosecutor in Frankfurt (Oder), the projection of several logos by as-yet unknown individuals and the distribution of the images online at least merits an initial suspicion of the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations," read a police statement.

'Led By Donkeys': UK campaign group claims responsibility

Responsibility for the stunt has now been claimed by the British political campaign group Led By Donkeys, in conjunction with the German satirical Center for Political Beauty.

Some on the political left in Germany contended that if authorities convict any of the group's members for projecting an illegal image, it would show — in Germany at least — that the gesture was indeed a Nazi salute and not a means of thanking the members of the audience at his speech as Musk and other have said.

Following the publication of the images online, several social media users and news outlets initially questioned the veracity of the stunt.

After initially denying that the action had actually taken place, a German police spokesman later told local public broadcaster RBB that officers were "no longer assuming that it didn't happen," having analyzed images online and been present at the site.

Originally established as an anti-Brexit campaign group in December 2018, Led By Donkeys has regularly carried out similar stunts in the United Kingdom, targeting populist British politicians such as former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and far-right Brexit hard-liner Nigel Farage in videos beamed onto famous buildings such as the Houses of Parliament in London.

Activists promise more stunts in the future

Philipp Ruch, artistic lead for the Center for Political Beauty, told the German dpa news agency that activists had used a special projector to beam a video onto the outside of the Tesla building from a distance of several hundred meters. He promised similar stunts in the future.

"The world's richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe," wrote Led By Donkeys in a social media post accompanying the video that had been projected onto the factory. "Don't buy a Tesla."

A group spokesman told the British Press Association that Musk was "using his wealth from Tesla to back far-right parties and degrade democracy," and that he "shouldn't be surprised if people don't fancy driving round in his cars for much longer. Increasingly, it's not a great look."

Musk has yet to comment on the stunt, but responded earlier this week to claims he made two Nazi salutes by saying: "Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired." He later also posted a series of puns on X using the names of Nazi war criminals. 

Even after calling for people to "give one another a bit of grace" following Musk's gestures on Inauguration Day, the US Anti-Defamation League has condemned the post on X.

"Making inappropriate and highly offensive jokes that trivialize the Holocaust only serve to minimize the evil and inhumanity of Nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors and insult the memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Shoah," the group said. 

mf/sms (AFP, dpa)