Lola the performing donkey ordered to get off Brussels balcony

BRUSSELS: Belgian police have demanded that Lola, a theatre-starring donkey, be removed from the balcony of a cultural center in Brussels after neighbors complained about her braying.

Lola is staying on the first-floor balcony while she performs in a play at the Arab Cultural Center, located in the same building in the Belgian capital. Staff had laid out straw and a bucket of water so she could get some fresh air.

But police ordered Lola's keeper to move her indoors after receiving complaints about the donkey making too much noise.

Despite the police demands, Lola was still outside on Friday, and the director of the cultural center was angrily berating her neighbors for interfering.

"I say to the neighbors, well done. What does it matter to you?" Hawa Djabili shouted to reporters and passersby. Asked why the donkey was out, she replied Lola "needed to breathe."

A spokesman for the Brussels police said they would return with animal welfare officers to remove Lola if the center did not comply with the order to keep the donkey indoors.

The animal is appearing in a play called "The Palestinian" at the Arab Cultural Center that runs until Saturday.