War graves desecrated by vandals

A monument and 12 graves were daubed with pink swastikas, SS insignia and other graffiti.

The cemetery in the town of Loos-en-Gohelle, south west of Lille, holds UK and Canadian soldiers who fell in a battle, during which the town was destroyed, October 1915.

France's minister for veterans, Hubert Falco, said that the desecration, which took place before dawn yesterday, was "an insult to the memory" of the soldiers and an "insult to France."

The French government was deeply angered by the incident.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to the Queen to express his "indignation".

"I condemn with the greatest firmness this odious act and ask you to convey my emotion and that of the French people, sympathy and solidarity to the families concerned and to all the British people," he said.

Last month, vandals smashed crosses and monuments on the graves of 95 German soldiers in a joint French-German military cemetery in eastern France for soldiers who fought against each other in both world wars.