Christian graves desecrated in France

Vandals desecrated four graves with swastikas and 'SS' inscriptions in a Christian cemetery near the French border with Germany, police said yesterday. A visitor to the cemetery in the town of Audincourt, south of Strasbourg, on Sunday found the graves...

Vandals desecrated four graves with swastikas and 'SS' inscriptions in a Christian cemetery near the French border with Germany, police said yesterday.

A visitor to the cemetery in the town of Audincourt, south of Strasbourg, on Sunday found the graves defaced with the symbols from the German Nazi era.

More than 300 tombs or graves have been desecrated in eastern France since April - many in Jewish cemeteries but also some Muslim and a few Christian graves - despite a drive led by President Jacques Chirac to eradicate racism.

Police have not found any organised effort behind the attacks, which the media has linked with neo-Nazi groups in France's Alsace region which borders Germany.

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