In Tourtoirac, 82 steles in a cemetery were defaced with black paint on Monday May 6 and insulting and anti-Semitic inscriptions were found. In the area, several ordeals and cemeteries have already been the scene of similar incidents and an investigation is underway.
Unknown motivations and actively sought perpetrators. For several months now, several cemeteries in an area of Dordogne of only a few dozen kilometers have been the scene of serious damage. Latest example, in Tourtoirac, east of Périgueux, where inscriptions in black paint were discovered Monday May 6 on nearly 80 steles.
In this village of just over 600 souls, consternation and indignation reign. “The cemetery is a sacred place, we don’t want our own graves to be tagged”, “they’re not going to do that on a football pitch, we don’t really care. They want, I think, to be impactful, and indeed it’s impactful because it’s dramatic to see that”, two locals told BFMTV.
“Their threats move no one”
“We have to be able to identify the people who did this so that they understand that it is not in fact acceptable,” adds a third Tourtoiracais.
For his part, Dominique Durand, mayor of the town, believes that his constituents should not take these insults personally and launches a message of distrust.
“You should not take it at the first level, for yourself. There are no direct families who are targeted, these are people who perhaps seek to send a message but their threats do not move anyone,” he declares to our camera.
Open investigation
In a press release published Tuesday, Jacques-Édouard Andrault, public prosecutor of Périgueux, indicated that an investigation into “aggravated damage” had been opened and entrusted to the Périgueux research brigade.
Several of these inscriptions “referred to Islam” were found, he said. The entrance gate to the cemetery in the village of Tourtoirac, as well as two calvaries, were also tagged. “Allah”, “cowards”, “I hate you”, “Martel will not come back”, can be read on graves according to photographs distributed by France Bleu Dordogne.
Some inscriptions also attack political figures: Meyer Habib, described as a “Zionist”, Jordan Bardella (“racist”), Éric Zemmour (“Jew”), Marine Le Pen (“fascist”). “These facts were compared to previous deteriorations by registrations observed in the sector since December 19,” underlines the prosecutor.
Several tags have been identified since the end of the year in the surrounding villages, notably in Saint-Pantaly-d’Excideuil, Cherveix-Cubas, Saint-Mesmin and Coulaures. At the beginning of March, around fifty graves had been defaced at the Clermont-d’Excideuil cemetery. No arrests have yet taken place.
