http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/world/europe/copenhagen-demark-car-burning.html 2016-10-11 02:36:14 Car Attacks in Denmark Spread ‘Like an Infection’ Nearly 190 cars have been set ablaze in Copenhagen this year, a violent outburst that is upsetting a country that prides itself on its social harmony. === The arsonists appear to operate with little deference to class, equally at ease scorching a shiny new BMW or Mercedes as they are setting a battered old van ablaze. And they almost always follow a pattern — smashing a window and dousing the interior of the vehicle with gasoline before setting it on fire. At least 185 cars have been set ablaze in Copenhagen, the Danish capital, so far this year, the police say, with a sudden and mysterious increase over the past two months or so, when about 80 automobiles were burned. Car burning has long been a potent and extreme example of urban revolt in some countries — “It is a mystery why this is happening, and there has been a big increase over the last few months and that is worrying,” said Jens Moller Jensen, a detective inspector with the Copenhagen police, charged with investigating the attacks. He said that he had expected a roughly 40 percent increase in car burnings this year compared with the previous year, and that the police had created a special unit to investigate them and had ratcheted up patrols. “I am working on several hypotheses,” he added. The cars are always empty, so no one has been hurt or killed. In late September, the police arrested a 17-year-old male, but provided no further details. As the motives and identities of the attackers remain a mystery, speculation is growing. Violent nihilism or rage? Immigrant angst? Simple boredom or, perhaps, large-scale insurance fraud? One theory is that cars in “It is a bit like an infection that has spread,” said Even after the Danish police Mr. Moller Jensen said the car burning He said that he had his theories of what was behind the car fires, but that he did not want to undermine his investigation by divulging too much. “I’d be a bad cop if I put money on one of them,” he said.