A grave ransacked in a Maronite cemetery in Saida, South Lebanon. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — A Maronite Christian cemetery in the southern Lebanese city of Saida was found to be vandalized on Friday, with several tombs damaged.
The vandalism was condemned by the head of the Saida municipality, Mohammad Saoudi, in a statement issued Friday.
The desecration of the tombs allegedly took place during the previous few days, according to L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent in the region. A janitor discovered the damage during his tour on Friday.
In his statement, Saoudi said the desecration of the tombs goes "against the coexistence," in a city where Muslims and Christians live side by side. Saoudi added that he awaits a "judicial investigation to reveal the circumstances" of the crime.
L'Orient Today tried to contact the president of the municipality as well as the spokesman of the Maronite patriarchate, Walid Ghayad, for a comment, but both were not immediately available.
In 2021, unknown persons vandalized graves in several localities in Akkar, northern Lebanon, for unclear reasons.
The president of the federation of municipalities in Joumeh called on the police to "punish as severely as possible" those responsible for the vandalism.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah.