An Arabic-speaking man was arrested on Monday 2 December 2024 for desecrating the church of Saint-Sever in Rouen.
A metal cross had been damaged and a wooden tabernacle torn off.
While
the police were there with the priest to assess the damage, a man "came
in, sat down on a bench, put his feet up on the backrest and lit a
cigarette".
When questioned by the police, he made incoherent
remarks, saying that "the church is the home of the sheitan [Arabic for
"the devil"]" and admitted to being the perpetrator of the damage.
When he was searched, he was found to be carrying a 20-centimetre knife.
The 37-year-old man, "from Rouen", was arrested and detained in a psychiatric hospital.
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