Vandals on Saturday damaged the tomb of the leader of France’s resistance to Nazi occupation during World War Two and founder of the Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, reports FRANCE 24.
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 de Gaulle’s tomb.
France Info radio quoted local mayor Pascal Babouot as saying he did not think there was a political motive behind the act, but it drew swift condemnation from politicians.
President Emmanuel Macron requested Sunday 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."
De Gaulle was a towering figure of 20th century French history, leading the nation’s resistance to Nazi occupation in World War Two, putting an end to its colonial war in Algeria in 1962 and serving as France’s president for a decade until 1969.