The grave of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front, has been damaged by vandals, his family said on Friday.
Marion Marechal, Le Pen’s granddaughter, said on her X account that the grave, in the cemetery of La Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany, had been found defaced on Friday, three weeks after his death aged 96.
Le Pen had been in a care facility for several weeks and died at midday on Tuesday “surrounded by his loved ones”, the family said in a statement at the time.
Writing on X on Friday, Marechal said: “You’ve destroyed the grave of our ancestors. Do you think you can break our hearts, intimidate us, discourage us? Our response will be to fight you ever harder, generation after generation. Our determination will match your infamy.”
Le Pen was a controversial figure in France, tapping into white working class anger over immigration and globalisation and also minimising the Holocaust.
His supporters saw him as a charismatic figure who would speak up for the everyman, but he was widely condemned as a bigot who was convicted several times by the courts for his remarks. Le Pen amassed 11 convictions.
Hundreds of people celebrated in central Paris when his death was announced.
His daughter Marine Le Pen, who took over his party, renamed it the National Rally and has sought to broaden its appeal to more centrist voters, could become France’s next president in 2027.
Asked about the desecration of the grave, National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy told reporters the vandalism would have no impact whatsoever on the party’s policies.
“I imagine this was done by the same riffraff who celebrated his death of a man on the Place de la Republique. It says everything about them and nothing about us,” Tanguy said.