A man in Germany had an unpleasant shock after returned home after working a nightshift only to find that his front door had been bricked up.

The man, living in Mainhausen, Hesse, in Central Germany came home from work on Tuesday morning to discover someone had built a brick wall in front of his door overnight.

The man was forced to use an axe to break up the brick wall until he could access his own door, Hessenschau.de reported.

Speaking to local media, the police said the act must have made the victim feel “like a Berliner in August 1961”.

The incident is being investigated by authorities and may have caused hundreds of euros worth of damage.

Police officer Ingbert Zacharias said authorities assume several people had been involved in the crime.