In mid‑June 2025, only a few days after it was installed atop the Pointe du Sur Cou, a newly erected cross in Haute‑Savoie was defaced with a tag invoking France’s 1905 law on secularism. Antoine Valentin, mayor of Saint‑Jeoire, condemned the act as a calculated attempt to attack the Christian presence in France rather than a random act of vandalism.
The cross-a humble wooden structure placed on private land per long‑standing local tradition-served as a silent focal point overlooking the alpine valleys. Within five days, vandals had defaced it with spray‑painted slogans referencing the law separating church and state. Mayor Valentin described this as neither isolated nor coincidental, but symptomatic of a broader trend of aggression against Christian symbols in France, citing nearly 800 anti‑Christian incidents-including arson and profanation-in 2024 alone.
The local mayor, Antoine Valentin, condemned the vandalism as reflective of a militant wing of the extreme left exploiting secularism as a progressive cover to systematically dismantle France's historical heritage and moral compass. He criticised the state for turning a blind eye to what he views as ideologically driven attacks.