Man faces deportation after lighting cigarette on eternal flame of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

He has been accused of 'violating a monument erected in memory of the dead'

Footage which has gone viral on social media shows a 47-year-old reportedly homeless man from Morocco climbing over the chain beneath the Arc de Triomphe and lighting a cigarette.

The incident is said to have happened on Tuesday morning and has caused mass debate across France, reports Metro.

France's interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X: "This unworthy and deplorable act undermines the memory of those who died for France."

Patricia Miralles, the French minister for war veterans, said that what happened wasn't 'not a mere misstep, but a desecration'.

She added: "France will never tolerate the tarnishing of the memory of those who died for her. Never."

It was later reported that the man, idenfitied as Hamdi H, will have his residence permit revoked.

Police have accused him of 'violating a burial site, tomb, cinerary urn, or monument erected in memory of the dead' which is an offence that could carry a one-year prison sentence and a €15,000 fine.