On Saturday May 11th, around 20 graves were found desecrated at the Baume Canouille cemetery in Vitrolles. A shock for the inhabitants of this tranquil neighbourhood of the town.
Statue of the Virgin Mary has her head cut off. A total of around 20 graves were desecrated on Saturday the 11th of May at the Baume Canouille cemetery in Vitrolles in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. ‘A gratuitous and disgusting act’, reacted the town hall in a press release.
At this cemetery, which is located outside the town centre, the families commemorating the 1700 graves were shocked.
‘I came here with tears in my eyes. It’s unbelievable, you don’t even know what to say, it hurts deep down,’ says 20-year-old Jérémy in an interview with our broadcaster.
57-year-old Emilie is just as speechless and describes the scene as ‘intolerable’ and ‘inhumane’ in an interview with BFM Marseille. She reports that she quickly went to the cemetery to check whether the graves of her relatives were still intact.
She continues: ‘We came straight away. This is not normal, there should be no such thing,’ she said.
The city council has decided to press charges and is calling on the families concerned to do the same.
In its statement, the municipality recalls that grave desecration is severely punished with a year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.