France Investigates New Case of Vandalism Targeting Muslim Graves

Rabat – French police have launched an investigation into a new case of vandalism targeting a Muslim cemetery in Puy-en-Vau.

Nine graves in the Muslims section of a cemetery were vandalized, the newspaper Le Parisien reported on Sunday, noting that initial findings indicated the damage dates back a week.

A man who had come to pay his respects to his father’s grave noticed the vandalism acts, including on his father’s grave.

The man filed a complaint, which led to an investigation to shed light on the case.

This is not the first case of Muslim cemeteries and graves being targeted and vandalized in France.

The Muslim community in the European country has in recent years seen a marked increase in Islamophobic acts, including the desecration of mosques and Muslim cemeteries. 

Many Islamophobic acts show vans defacing the Muslim cemetery, including in Moulins in eastern France.

Mosques in France have also been vandalized, with attackers using red paint to draw the crosses of Lorraine on the walls of the mosque.

Read also: Macron Defends Religious Freedom Amid Rising Normalization of Islamophobia

In July last year, the French Interior Ministry acknowledged a dramatic surge in anti-Muslim incidents in the first five months of 2025.

The report said anti-Muslim incidents increased by 75% comparde to the same period a year earlier.

From January through May in 2025, French authorities recorded 145 anti-Muslim acts; the number is up from 83 in 2024.

The majority were direct assaults on people — 99 cases in total, compared to just 32 last year. These now represent more than two-thirds of all Islamophobic acts. 

One of these tragic and heinous cases in France was the attack on Aboubakar Cissé, a young Malian man who was killed last year inside a mosque in southern France. His death sparked a wave of shock and safety concerns among the Muslim community.

The killer entered the mosque and faked a prayer before committing manslaughter against the mosque goer. 

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