Vandals Target Two Mosques in Besançon with Lorraine Cross Graffiti

A worshipper of the Sounna mosque, rue Avicenne, alerted the police after discovering these large Lorraine cross markings, written on the gates and walls of the place of worship. The Fontaine-Ecu mosque, rue de Chaillot, also received the same tags, according to France Bleu.

To read: Anti-Muslim Graffiti Targets Closed Mosque in Paris Suburb, Two Arrested

The worshippers of the Sounna mosque are outraged by this act. "It’s incomprehensible. I don’t have the words. How am I going to explain this to my children?" says one of them upon discovering these tags. The mayor of Besançon, Anne Vignot, also shocked, condemned these hateful acts on social networks. "The mosques of Saint-Claude and Fontaine Écu have been vandalized with Lorraine crosses. I firmly condemn these acts and the degradation of public debate which only fuels hatred," she tweeted.

To read: article 82302

For the Islamic Cultural Center of Franche-Comté, which manages the Fontaine-Ecu mosque, these acts constitute "a serious attack on places of worship and an offense to Muslim worshippers". In a statement, it condemns these acts whose "sole purpose is to spread hatred and rejection of the other". In early November, Lorraine cross tags had also been discovered on the mosques of Pontarlier and Montlebon.