Eight months ago, the French city, Lyon built a memorial commemorating 80 years since the end of the concentration camps the Nazis built during the Holocaust. On August 30, someone defaced that same memorial with the words, “Free Gaza”. The person who committed this act has yet to be identified, and the rising number of antisemitic acts in France has local officials concerned. 

The mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, called the act “despicable” and “intolerable.” A monument built less than a year ago, marking the end of an awful era, is being defaced for any cause, which is disturbing to see. 

Fabienne Buccio, the region’s prefect, said, “Nothing justifies this shameful act targeting this palace or remembrance.”

 Mayor Doucet said, “I condemn it and express my full solidarity with memory associations, survivors and their descendants,” and that he “continues to stand firm against hatred, antisemitism, and racism.”

The people of France continue to fight against not only this act of vandalism, but also against many similar acts. The officials of the city of Lyon will continue the hunt for the perpetrator and make sure that they face justice for the act they have committed.