PARIS, (Sputnik) – French authorities are to determine the motives behind the recent desecration of a Jewish cemetery in the eastern region of Alsace, President Francois Hollande said Tuesday.
"It is not the first desecration case pertaining to this cemetery, but never before has the cemetery been vandalized on such a scale, with such intensity and such ferocity. The authorities are to determine whether this act was triggered by recklessness, ignorance or intolerance," Hollande said during a ceremony at the cemetery.
He said that the incident in Alsace was not simply an act of aggression, but an act of "pure evil."
On February 15, a group of teenagers, aged between 15 and 17 years old, desecrated more than 250 tombs and destroyed a monument to Holocaust victims in a Jewish cemetery in the town of Sarre-Union.
On Monday, five teenagers were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing the cemetery. The suspects are facing a maximum of seven years' imprisonment.
