French climate activists keep stealing portraits of President Emmanuel Macron, but how should they be punished?

One by one, environmental activists around France have removed Macron’s official portraits from more than 130 town halls this year

French law says the thefts can be punishable by several years in prison, but no court seems willing to go as far as locking up the portrait removers

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Demonstrators hold upside down portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron during a protest in Bayonne in August. Photo: AP

Published: 5:45pm, 3 Nov 2019Updated: 9:43pm, 3 Nov 2019

Is stealing a presidential portrait a crime worthy of a prison sentence? Or a laudable act of civil disobedience?

Courts around France are grappling with this question in response to an unusual new environmental movement that’s aiming to push French President Emmanuel Macron to do more to fight climate change.

French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Reuters

One by one, environmental activists around France have removed Macron’s official portraits from more than 130 town halls this year, from the foothills of the Alps to the Left Bank of Paris.

Their point: even as Macron portrays himself on the global stage as Mr. Climate, the centrist, business-friendly president isn’t acting boldly enough to change his own country’s planet-damaging ways. They’re notably angry that France has lagged on its international commitments to increase use of renewable energy and reduce emissions. France remains well behind its European neighbours in its use of renewable energy.

Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm in Liverpool Bay, England. Photo: AFP