WWII war memorial near Paris vandalised by anti Covid health pass protesters

A memorial to French World War II soldiers and Resistance fighters has been vandalised with an anti-health pass slogan, authorities said Monday, in what President Emmanuel Macron called an "insult" to the nation's memory.

French President Emmanuel Macron in the crypt of the French resistance memorial of the Mont Valerien during a ceremony for Hubert Germain, a WWII veteran and the last 'Companion of the Liberation', in Suresnes, near Paris, Thursday, Nov. 11 2021. AP - Christophe Petit Tesson

Security cameras are to be installed in the area, according to officials.

The Mont-Valérien monument in Suresnes, west of Paris, was vandalised with "Anti Pass" painted in large letters, with the style of the double-s reminiscent of that used by Nazis for their SS inscriptions, authorities said.

The inscription on the monument -- which was inaugurated in 1960 by then-president Charles de Gaulle -- is 50 metres long, they said.

Macron on Monday called the act "an insult to the memory of our heroes and the memory of the nation".

In a tweet, he said that "to sully this sacred place of the republic is to violate what unites us. The perpetrators will be found and put on trial."

Legal complaint

"I am revolted. Nothing can justify defacing a monument to national memory. It's unforgivable. We will file a legal complaint," wrote the minister in charge of veterans' affairs, Geneviève Darrieussecq.

Dégradations scandaleuses #AntiPass du monument de la France Combattante au #MontValérien cette nuit.
Je suis révoltée. Aucune cause ne justifie que l’on touche à ce lieu unique de notre #mémoire nationale. C’est impardonnable.
Nous déposerons plainte. pic.twitter.com/mIvYoxI415

— Geneviève Darrieussecq (@gdarrieussecq) December 13, 2021

France requires a health pass -- proof of vaccination, Covid recovery or a negative test result -- for access to restaurants and cafes, public transport and cultural venues, a requirement that sparked major protests last summer.

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The government is pushing for a fast rollout of booster shots in an effort to avoid another lockdown as the new Omicron virus variant is causing infections to spike.

It has also said the pass will lapse for anyone who fails to get a booster shot.

Not an isolated example

Meanwhile, video surveillance cameras will be installed at the Mont-Valérien memorial at the beginning of 2022, according to Jean-Baptiste Romain, in charge of the site.

"It's not the first time we've looked at putting cameras in. It will be a major plus for the protection of the Memorial," he told the press, adding he had been contacted by police to discuss the installation.

It's also not the first time protesters have scrawled graffiti in anger over government Covid measures.

Across the country in August, when the health pass became mandatory, vaccination centres and outdoor testing facilities at pharmacies were tagged with swastikas and graffiti such as "collaborator", "Nazi" and "genocide".

In Lans-en-Vercors, south-east France, anti-vaccine graffiti were painted on a community hall that housed a vaccine centre and fire hoses were opened intentionally, flooding the facility.