Hours after firing a cop, Portland police Chief Mike Reese Tuesday suspended Capt. Mark Kruger for 80 hours without pay and ordered him to take "Tools for Tolerance" training because he erected a public tribute to five Nazi-era German soldiers at a city park while employed by the Police Bureau.

An internal affairs investigation found Kruger brought "discredit and disgrace upon the Bureau and the City," when Kruger nailed "memorial plaques" of five Nazi soldiers to a tree on the east side of Rocky Butte Park sometime between 1999 and 2001.

Kruger was a Portland officer at the time, but was not on duty when he erected the plaques as a shrine. Kruger called the memorial "Ehrenbaum" or "Honor Tree."

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Kruger had taken the plaques down while he was facing federal lawsuits between 2002 and 2005 alleging excessive force during downtown anti-war protests. He gave them to the city attorney's office, which stashed them away for years, until an internal affairs investigator recently located them.

The chief found Kruger violated a bureau directive on professional conduct, and Portland city code, which says no person shall attach anything to property in a city park. The investigation also found that Kruger placed the plaques on a tree at Rocky Butte so they were visible from Interstate 205, and even returned to inspect and clean the plaques.

"Your conduct, the publicity surrounding it, and negative perceptions about its nature raise legitimate questions about your ability to be effective in your job," Reese wrote in his disciplinary letter to Kruger.

The chief said he expects Kruger never to engage in conduct that "denigrates others or their differences" on duty or off duty, and that he participate in a "mentorship arrangement" that the chief and mayor have not yet defined, but will last at least six months to up to two years.

Kruger wrote a letter of apology to the chief, the bureau, the City Council and community. He described himself as a European and military history buff, but denied any admiration for Nazis, and said he had no knowledge that one of the officers he honored was involved in war crimes.

"Why did I take such an action? I did so as an expression of my interest in military history; many military historians have erected similar remembrances all over the world," Kruger wrote. "What I didn't think about was the misperception that could occur if this action became publicly known. I deeply regret this action and apologize for the poor reflection this has caused for the Portland Police Bureau, the City of Portland and my community."

Kruger also directed his apology to his co-workers. "I ask that community members focus on my life's work and not on a poor decision made years ago."

Robert Seaver, a former friend of Kruger's who had filed a formal complaint against him, said he thought Kruger should have been fired and said the bureau didn't look at other transgressions that came out of the internal affairs investigation.

"There's more that should have been done, but at least they're willing to do this and taking it seriously," Seaver said.

Seaver said he questions why Kruger wasn't disciplined for removing the plaques while he faced federal litigation. "The way I read that is tampering with evidence," Seaver said.

In the city's disciplinary letter, the chief wrote that Kruger's "past choices" placed the bureau and himself in a difficult situation.

"On the one hand, this event occurred 11 years ago, the Bureau had an opportunity to investigate it in early 2004, and you have been promoted twice since then," Reese wrote. "On the other hand, we have a responsibility to the community, your co-workers, and the organization to develop and retain personnel whom we are confident can effectively carry out the bureau's mission and priorities."

Reese said he considered terminating or demoting Kruger, and might have had the conduct occurred more recently. Kruger waived his right to any arbitration challenging the discipline.

Unlike Tuesday's decision to fire the officer who fatally shot Aaron Campbell in January, the bureau did not release the internal affairs investigative material, or Performance Review Board documents that spurred Kruger's discipline. Lt. Kelli Sheffer, bureau spokeswoman, said the bureau did not release Kruger's internal affairs documents because "it's an internal employee issue. It doesn't even compare to the officer-involved shooting, in which a man was killed. That's kind of a different animal."