(ANSA-AP) - BERLIN - German police said Monday they were investigating an early-morning explosion that damaged the car of a left-wing politician who had been working in support of refugees in a Dresden suburb that has seen anti-immigrant demonstrations.

The incident comes amid increasing tensions in the area and elsewhere in Germany following a growing influx of refugees from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and also from the Balkans. The number of asylum applications is expected to at least double this year from around 200,000 in 2014.

Police said it wasn't yet clear what caused the explosion that damaged the car of the opposition Left Party's Michael Richter, a town councilor in the Dresden surburb of Freital, but that detectives were treating it as intentional. No one was hurt.

In the first half of 2015, Germany has seen almost as many far-right crimes against refugee accomodation as in all of 2014, according to the Interior Ministry. Of the 173 crimes recorded, 19 were violent.

Incidents have been reported in recent weeks in several regions, primarily vandalism against new refugee homes being built. In Freital, there were protest recently against a new asylum home and clashes with pro-refugee activists.

Zeitung newspaper. (ANSA-AP).