French police are investigating an incident in which a Holocaust memorial and two synagogues in Paris were defaced with green paint between Friday night and Saturday morning, The Telegraph reported on Saturday.
The Wall of the Righteous, dedicated to 3,900 individuals who helped rescue Jews in France during the Second World War, was one of the sites vandalized in the early hours of Saturday. The memorial, located in the Marais district, was covered with green paint that obscured the names engraved on it.
Two synagogues and Chez Marianne, an Israeli restaurant popular with both locals and tourists, were also targeted, according to the report. Police said CCTV footage showed a man dressed in black throwing paint at the sites at around 4.30 a.m. An open can of green paint was found at one of the locations.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo condemned the incident on social media, writing that “anti-Semitism has no place in our city and in our Republic.” She said city workers would remove the paint and that a formal complaint would be filed.
The Wall of the Righteous, dedicated to 3,900 individuals who helped rescue Jews in France during the Second World War, was vandalized by green paint, May 31, 2025. (credit: SCREENSHOT/X, SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau also condemned the vandalism, describing it as “odious acts targeting the Jewish community” in a post on X.
Immense degout devant ces actes odieux qui visent la communauté juive. https://t.co/bDPLxpCopn
— Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) May 31, 2025
No arrests have been reported.
Retailleau recently called for enhanced security at Jewish sites across France, especially ahead of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Shavuot. He emphasized the need for “visible and dissuasive” security measures to protect Jewish communities.
Repeat antisemitic incidents
This is not the first time the Wall of the Righteous has been targeted. Last year, red handprints were sprayed on the memorial in what police later described as an act carried out by Bulgarian nationals allegedly linked to Russian intelligence. Authorities called the incident a “copy-paste” of another high-profile vandalism in autumn 2023, when 250 blue Stars of David were painted on buildings in Paris.
French officials said the graffiti was part of a broader Russian disinformation effort to stoke division in the country. According to the Foreign Ministry, 1,095 bots on X published nearly 2,600 posts amplifying the images of the tags, describing it as “a new Russian digital interference operation against France.”
Police said they are continuing to investigate the latest incident.
