German artists Mishcha Leinkauf and Matthias Wermke have claimed responsibility for flying the white flags upon the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this summer.

Brooklyn Bridge White-Flag Stunt Explained

The Berlin-based artists Leinkauf and Wermke claim that the white-flag stunt was to celebrate the magnificence of the New York City span as well as its German-born engineer John Roebling, who died on the day the flags were flown (July 22) in 1869.

“We saw the bridge, which was designed by a German, trained in Berlin, who came to America because it was the place to fulfill his dreams, as the most beautiful expression of a great public space,” Mr. Leinkauf told The New York Times. “That beauty was what we were trying to capture.”

Both Leinkauf, 37, and Wermke, 35 were taken aback by the harshly negative reaction that their stunt received and the humiliation suffered by the much-maligned New York Police Department.

“This was not an anti-American statement,” Wermke said. Leinkauf added, “From our Berlin background, we were a little surprised that it got the reaction it did. We really didn’t intend to embarrass the police.”

The NYPD has acknowledged Leinkaf and Wermke’s claims, but have yet to officially determine whether or not they were the culprits of the stunt.

“The NYPD is aware of the public statements made by the German Artists, Mishcha Leinkauf and Matthias Wermke in regard to the Brooklyn Bridge flag case,” read a statement from the NYPD. “The investigation is continuing.”