Unidentified persons vandalized dozens of graves, in a Muslim cemetery in the city of Mulhouse, northeastern France.
The France Bleu radio website published pictures of the vandalized graves, which were taken by a visitor.
The vandals uprooted the flowers planted on the graves and destroyed their tombstones.
The Regional Council of the Islamic Religion in Alsace (eastern France) described the act of sabotage as “cowardly and abhorrent.”
In a statement, it called on the authorities to “do everything in their power to arrest the perpetrators of this despicable act and bring them to justice.”
Mulhouse police have opened an investigation.
“This is disastrous,” said Muhammad Qureshi, who was the first to witness the vandalism, on his way to the cemetery where several of his relatives are buried.
Qureshi, according to his statement to (France Bleu), called the police and elected officials to explain to them the extent of the damage.
About 30 people from the Muslim community residing in Mulhouse gathered at the cemetery to clean it up.
