Excrements Left Inside Church Forces Parish to Restrict Opening Hours
A parish church in Plan-de-la-Tour has been forced to reduce its opening hours following repeated acts of anti-social behaviour and degradation in and around the building. The incidents, which include animal defecation and littering, affected the church's ability to remain open to visitors and worshippers.
Reported on 23 July 2026, Saint-Martin Church, in Plan-de-la-Tour in the Var Region, has begun limiting its open hours after experiencing repeated acts of vandalism and anti-social behaviour since mid-July. According to the parish priest, volunteers opening the church each morning repeatedly found abandoned drink cans, food packaging and other rubbish in the same area of the church. The situation escalated when human excrement was discovered inside the place of worship, requiring volunteers to clean the church before Mass.
The parish priest has explained that the decision to limit church open hours was taken after these repeated incidents made it increasingly difficult, for safety reasons, to keep the church open throughout the entire day. Reports state that the municipal police have been investigating and are searching for the perpetrators.
Although the church, which is the only place of worship in the village, remains open for religious services, the restrictions have affected the church's availability for locals and visitors wanting to pray.
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