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Reuters
The ruins of the village of Oradour-sur-Glane are preserved as a memorial site
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the dismissal of a memorial on the site of one of the worst atrocities by the Nazis in France during World War II as “unspeakable”.
Images of an inscription on the site in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane show the word “martyr” in the text “martyr village” replaced by “liar”.
The village was destroyed in 1944 by SS troops, with 642 inhabitants killed.
The ruins of the old village are preserved just as they were after the massacre.
Philippe Lacroix, mayor of the new village, said he was shocked, adding: “We know what happened here, but of course there are always people trying to tell lies.”
Mr Macron said every effort would be made to track down and punish those responsible for the vandalism.
The act has been widely condemned by French officials.
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Prime Minister Jean Castex said he felt ‘anger’ when he heard of the incident. “To spoil this place … is also to spoil the memory of our martyrs,” he said.
“Shame on those who did this,” tweeted Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin described the vandalism as “spitting on the memory of our martyrs”.
What happened to the village?
On 10 June 1944, a release of SS troops bypassed the small neighborhood of Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limousin region of south-central France.
It is believed by some that the troops sought compensation for the kidnapping of a German soldier, but some say that resistance members were based in another, nearby village.
Most of the victims were women and children. Many of them were herded into a local church where hand grenades were thrown before it caught fire.
The men were locked up in a shed. Machine gunners shot at their legs, then dived into gasoline and put them on.
An investigation years later saw about 60 soldiers brought to trial in the 1950s. Twenty of them were convicted, but all were later released.
