Activists and politicians have condemned protesters at an environmental protest in Paris who trashed a memorial to the victims of the 13 November terror attacks. Protesters reportedly hurled candles left in memory of the victims at riot police.
Since the attacks in which 130 people were killed by Islamic extremists, the Marianne statue in the Place de la Republique has become the focal point for those wishing to pay tribute to the dead. But on 29 November the square was the site of violent protests, as environmental protesters clashed with riot police on the eve of a key UN climate change conference.
In the wake of the clashes tributes and flowers left for the dead were photographed scattered across the square, after protesters used tribute candles as weapons.
"It's indecent, a desecration. The statue is the tomb of the victims of the attacks," Bertrand Boulet, a member of the 17 plus jamais group which maintains the memorial told The Local.
French police published pictures of objects allegedly hurled at them by protesters, including a hammer, rocks, and glass candle holders from the memorial. The protesters from far-left groups had defied a ban on public gatherings imposed in the wake of the Paris attacks.
