Stock Photo - 28 October 2019, Saxony-Anhalt, Straßberg: Soldiers of the Logistics Battalion 171 from Burg burn the bark of the spruces infested by the bark beetle on a clearing area. This is to prevent the pest from surviving the winter. In the past five weeks, about 750 spruces had been cleared of branches and bark. After several severe storms and two years of prolonged drought, the Harz is particularly hard hit by the bark beetle. The pest could spread easily in the weakened spruces. Saxony-Anhalt had therefore accepted an offer from the federal government to use the Bundeswehr to combat the bark beetle. Now the mission ends. Photo: Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB. - Straßberg/Saxony-Anhalt/Germany