Five Teens Arrested in France For Desecration of Jewish Сemetery

Five minors, aged between 15 and 17 years old, were arrested in France on suspicion of vandalizing a Jewish cemetery. Vandals desecrated more than 250 tombs in a Jewish cemetery in Alsace's Sarre-Union.

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) — Five minors have been arrested in France on suspicion of vandalizing a Jewish cemetery in the town of Sarre-Union, in the eastern French region of Alsace, Saverne prosecutor Philippe Vanier said Monday.

On Sunday, vandals desecrated more than 250 tombs in a Jewish cemetery in Alsace's Sarre-Union. They also destroyed a monument to victims of the Holocaust, which was at the entrance to the graveyard. Currently, access to the cemetery is prohibited.

PHOTOS: Jewish Cemetery Vandalized In Eastern France http://t.co/8yctDPKVQV pic.twitter.com/TJ8K2ekmN5

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The teens, aged between 15 and 17 years old, are from the Alsace region and do not have any previous criminal convictions, Vanier said.

According to the prosecutor, one of the teenagers came to the police on Monday morning to confess that he had vandalized the cemetery alongside four other teens.

Each suspect faces a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.

French President Francois Hollande strongly condemned the attack committed by the vandals, and said the government will do everything to ensure that "the perpetrators of this heinous and barbaric act" are identified and brought to justice as soon as possible.

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland also denounced the act, saying that anti-Semitism "is on the rise not only in France, but throughout Europe."