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Butchers in France demand protection from vegans

Shops have been stoned or defaced with anti-meat graffiti and stickers, Federation of Butchers says, and 15 shops splashed with fake blood.

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French butchers have written to the government asking for protection against militant vegans, accusing them of trying to shut down the country's traditional meat-eating culture, reports the BBC.

Shops have been stoned or defaced with anti-meat graffiti and stickers, the French Federation of Butchers says.

Over the last few months, 15 shops were splashed with fake blood.

Federation chief Jean-François Guihard said in the letter that such attacks were a form of terrorism.

"It's terror that these people are seeking to sow, in their aim of making a whole section of French culture disappear," he wrote.

Vegans wanted to "impose on the immense majority of people their lifestyle, or even their ideology".

Vegetarians and vegans make up just a few percent of the French population. A 2016 survey estimated that 3% of French people were vegetarians.

"The vegan way of life has been over-hyped in the media," Mr Guihard said, contributing to intolerance.

Read more of this report from the BBC.