MAINZ, Germany — Thieves dismantled and removed several water faucets at the construction site for the new massive headquarters of Germany's BND foreign intelligence service, officials said.
Several floors of the new building were flooded with water and Berlin newspaper BZ reported that “secret technology was damaged" following Tuesday's incident.
“We can confirm that a substantial damage to property was caused by the theft and the resulting water flow,” a Berlin Police spokesman told NBC News.
The fenced-in construction site is protected by a private security firm and equipped with surveillance cameras. Following the embarrassment surrounding the delayed construction of Berlin’s new airport, the incident was quickly branded the German capital's new laughingstock on social media with #BNDleaks and #watergate proving popular.
One Twitter user posted a photo of a wrench described as a new "counter-intelligence tool."
According to media reports, the BND's new building is scheduled to open in 2016 and will house up to 4,000 of the spy agency's employees.
Officials said it was unclear how the culprits entered the high-security facility, adding that they were investigating in “all directions.”
