An estimated 80 graves were defaced with swastikas were discovered on Tuesday morning at a Jewish cemetery in the village of Quatzenheim, eastern France.
The swastikas were spray-painted in blue on the Jewish graves, with one of the defaced graves also bearing the words “Elsassisches Schwarzen Wolfe” (Black Alsacian Wolves), a reference to a French neo-Nazi and separatist group that was active the 1970s.
Local authorities issued a statement condemning “in the strongest possible terms this awful anti-Semitic act and sends his complete support to the Jewish community which has been targeted again.”
French president Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit the cemetery on Tuesday, to inspect the damage. He will then return to Paris, to visit the Holocaust memorial. On Tuesday, Macron will be the keynote speaker on Wednesday at the 34th annual dinner of CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish organizations.
The discovery of the desecrated Jewish graves came on the same day thousands of French citizens in 50 cities are planning to march together to protest the rising wave of anti-Semitism in their country (see: 14 French Political Parties to March Against Anti-Semitism Tonight).