The News
Thursday 28 of March 2024

Dismay, Anger in France at Vandalism of De Gaulle's Tomb


Mourners on the tomb of General de Gaulle, in the cemetery of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, France on Nov. 13, 1970,photo: AP
Mourners on the tomb of General de Gaulle, in the cemetery of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, France on Nov. 13, 1970,photo: AP
French media say police are hunting for two people

French politicians are reacting with anger and dismay after the tomb of France’s wartime hero and former President Gen. Charles de Gaulle was vandalized.

French media say police are hunting for two people, one of whom was filmed Saturday by security cameras knocking a cross off the top of the tomb in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, the village in eastern France where De Gaulle lived and is buried.

President Emmanuel Macron, in a statement Sunday from his office, asked that the tomb be quickly repaired, adding that De Gaulle’s memory is “dear to all French people.”

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe tweeted his “sadness and consternation” and called the vandalism “an act against France.”

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called it “contemptible.”