France strips residency from Moroccan man, 47, who lit cigarette at Arc de Triomphe war memorial
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Tuesday called the actions of a 47-year-old Moroccan man 'indecent and pathetic' following his arrest.
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Video footage of him lighting a cigarette beneath the much-visited Arc de Triomphe sparked outrage after it was circulated.
'The man who desecrated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by lighting a cigarette with the memorial flame was arrested in Paris for violating a burial site, tomb, urn, or monument erected in memory of the dead. He was taken into custody and admitted the facts,' Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X.
On Wednesday, France's Interior Ministry announced that the unidentified man had been stripped of his residency permit, Politico reported.
3 The Arc de Triomphe is an iconic monument in Paris located at the end of the Champs-Elysees.
AFP via Getty Images
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The Unknown Soldier War Memorial contains a flame and the tomb of a soldier killed in World War I under an arch of the Arc de Triomphe.
Footage of the incident shows a man kneeling beside the memorial, which appears to be off limits to visitors.
He is seen leaning over the flame emitting from the memorial to light his cigarette before immediately leaving, as the stunned tourists watch.
3 French President Emmanuel Macron reignited the flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe during VE Day on May 8, 2025.
via REUTERS
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3 Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau claimed the 47-year-old Moroccan man who lit his cigarette on the flame was 'indecent and pathetic.'
AFP via Getty Images
The man reportedly has legal status in France and was known to police, according to local reports.
Patricia Miralles, the deputy minister for Memory and Veterans' Affairs, said she was 'outraged' by what happened.
'Walking on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Lighting his cigarette with the eternal flame. This is not a mere misstep: it is a desecration,' she wrote on X. 'France will never tolerate the tarnishing of the memory of those who died for her. Never.'
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