Dusseldorf, Germany (dpa) – Presented with a supposedly harmless sparkler by his mother, a five-year-old boy set a car alight, causing €30,000 ($35,000) in damage, police in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia reported on Sunday.

The 42-year-old mother lit the firework on Saturday with her son on a parking lot in a residential area in the town of Hagen, only to see the sparks drift underneath a nearby car, where dry leaves caught fire.

Attempts to douse the fire failed, and the car belonging to a neighbor burnt out completely. Fire services called to the scene were able to prevent the flames spreading to other cars on the lot.

The woman is facing a charge of causing fire through negligence. Police said the sparkler was a product that could be legally bought and lit throughout the year, by contrast with other fireworks which are facing increasing restrictions in Germany.