An original translation by Ava Lon with much thanks!

From French News site, 20Minutes.Fr.

An investigation is opened after the discovery of an incendiary device in the forecourt of a church in Toulouse, in the district of the Roseraie …

Published on 15.12.2016 at 10:19
Updated on 15.12.2016 at 12:59

The police officers of the SRPJ [Regional Service of Judicial Police] of Toulouse investigate the discovery of a ‘craft bomb’ in the forecourt of the church Saint-André, in the district of the Roseraie. The find dates back to Thursday 8 December in the morning but it was unveiled only on Thursday. (December 15)

The incendiary device was spotted by a parishioner against the door of the building. Hidden in a box the size of a wine carton, it consisted of two bottles of fire starter for barbecue, connected by electric wire. Small cubes of lighter stitched with magic candles for birthday were stuck to the bottles.

The candles were burned out, without their sparks triggering the device. “The rudimentary device was well designed to start a fire,” said a police source.

Vigilance in places of worship

The incendiary device had, strangely, been brought back to the courtyard of the central police station of Toulouse, whose evacuation had been ordered for 45 minutes before the arrival of the firemen and de-miners. A real act of malice or provocation, the investigation must determine the origin of this incendiary device.

Wednesday, without referring to the case, Prefect Pascal Mailhos said that he had asked all religious authorities to be vigilant at the approach of the holidays, including searching the bags of the faithful at the entrance of places of worship.

An original translation by Ava Lon with much thanks

From this French News site:

Individuals have ransacked the interior of the Catholic church of the commune Mikael Libert

A random act. On Friday, the small red brick church in the northern town of Zuydcoote was attacked by vandals. According to the Voice of the North, many objects were broken and a fire that was just started could still be extinguished.

The quick alert

It is obviously in the early afternoon, Friday, that one or more individuals attacked the place of Catholic worship. A lady, who had come to lay flowers on a tomb, noticed smoke escaping from the church just outside the cemetery.

The firemen were immediately called and they managed to quickly extinguish the flames that were burning a prayer bench. But if the fire did not do more damage, the people who lit it were violent.

Benches and chairs were turned upside down, statues thrown to the floor and broken, tiles and various objects used for offices were broken as well. The gendarmes were dispatched to the scene to find out the facts and make initial findings for the investigation that was opened.

What is already known is that individuals did not have to break into the church because it was open to the public at that time. And if the person who issued the alert did not see those responsible for the rampage, the military may have more luck with the neighbors, the church being surrounded by dwellings.

On Twitter in particular, many Internet users are outraged and call on politicians to react to what some already feel is an anti-Christian act.

[Editor: Friday is usually when mosques do the most intense incitement agains the unbeliever in what I believe is called, the “jumla prayer”. Most attacks against non-muslims by muslims happen on Fridays.]