A man has sparked outrage after he used the memorial flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris to light a cigarette.
A video posted on social media shows him crouching down to light his cigarette from the eternal flame that sits at the top of the monument in the French capital, surrounded by stunned onlookers.
Wearing a dark top, white trousers and a backpack he stands up afterwards and casually walks off while stepping over the low chain link fence that surrounds the tomb.
“He didn’t appear to be drunk or under the influence of drugs,” the woman who filmed the clip on Monday told Le Figaro. “On the contrary, he was clearly aware of what he was doing and proud of having done it.
Located under the Arc de Triomphe, the tomb contains the remains of unidentified soldiers who died in the First World War. The flame was first lit in 1923 and is rekindled at 6.30pm every evening. The time is marked with the French inscription ‘Ici repose un soldat français mort pour la Patrie, 1914–1918’ or ‘Here rests a French soldier who died for the Fatherland’.
A man identified as Hamdi H. was later arrested in the 17th arrondissement on Tuesday around 6pm local time, local media reported.
The video triggered outrage across France with ministers denouncing the incident as a disgrace to the legacy of fallen soldiers.
“France will never tolerate tarnishing the memory of those who died for her,” Patricia Miralles, the minister for veterans and remembrance, wrote on X.
“I am filing a case immediately with the Paris state prosecutors so that this man will be found and sanctions imposed to make an example of him,” she said in a separate post.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau also condemned the act, describing it as “shameful and despicable”.
The suspect is believed to be a 47-year-old homeless man, legally resident in France until October 2025, Le Figaro reported.
A source close to the case told the paper that Mr Retailleau will revoke the residence permit of the man, who is originally from Morocco. He remains in police custody as of Wednesday.
He is accused of “violating a burial site, tomb, cinerary urn, or monument erected in memory of the dead” – an offense punishable by one year in prison and a €15,000 (£13,000) fine.
