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Vandals Threaten France's Christian Heritage With Arson, Faeces - Report

© AFP 2023 / BERTRAND GUAYRelatives and friends arrive at the Saint-Sulpice church to attend the funeral of late actress Mireille Darc on September 1, 2017 in Paris.
Relatives and friends arrive at the Saint-Sulpice church to attend the funeral of late actress Mireille Darc on September 1, 2017 in Paris. - Sputnik International
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Last year, some 875 French churches were vandalised, with 129 reported thefts from the premises also taking place over the same period. An MP earlier claimed that at least two churches in the country get “profaned” every day.

A string of acts of vandalism perpetrated against churches across France led a number of local politicians to speculate that the country’s Christian heritage is being threatened by thugs motivated by “militant secularism”, the Sun reports.

According to the newspaper, the latest incidents include a fire started in the Parisian Saint-Sulpice Church, human faeces smeared on a wall in the Notre-Dame-des-Enfacts Basilica in Nimes, and an organ vandalised in the Saint-Denis Basilica.

In this June 28, 2014 file photo veiled women attend a speech by preacher Pierre Vogel, in Offenbach, near Frankfurt, Germany. A law that forbids any kind of full-face covering, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa, has come into force in Austria Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Only a small number of Muslim women in Austria wear full-face veils, but they have become a target for right-wing groups and political parties. France and Belgium have similar laws and the nationalist Alternative for Germany party is calling for a burqa ban there too - Sputnik International
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Commenting on the Saint-Sulpice Church fire, head of The Republicans Party Laurent Wauquiez criticised media coverage of this incident.

"Saint-Sulpice is not only a church, it’s a part of who we are. That’s enough of this code of silence", he declared, while Republicans MP Valerie Boyer also said that "every day, at least two churches are profaned".

Opposition MPs Annie Genevard and Philippe Gosselin also called for a parliamentary investigation into these acts of anti-Christian vandalism.

READ MORE: Saint-Sulpice Church in Paris Caught on Fire (VIDEO)

Last year, a total of 875 churches in France were vandalised, the newspaper adds, citing figures provided by French authorities.

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