Holocaust memorial in Lyon vandalised with Free Gaza inscription in 'intolerable act'

A Holocaust memorial in the southern French city of Lyon was vandalised on Saturday, with the words "Free Gaza" scratched into the marble.

Lyon’s Mayor Grégory Doucet denounced the vandalism as an "intolerable act" in a statement on Monday.

He slammed the damage to the memorial, which stands outside the train station used to transport hundreds of Jews to Nazi death camps, and said those responsible would be "pursued and prosecuted."

Lyon "continues to stand firm against hatred, antisemitism and racism," Doucet added.

The three-metre tall memorial was only inaugurated in January to mark 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said France "must wake up" in the wake of the incident, the latest in a series targeting the country's Jewish community.

The number of antisemitic incidents in France has risen since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza.

The interior ministry said in a statement last week that 646 antisemitic acts had been recorded in France in the first six months of 2025, a decrease of 27% compared to 2024.

But the number represented a spike of more than 112% compared to the same period in 2023.