A French mayor has become the “most hated man in France” after he authorised the destruction of prehistoric stones seen as part of the “French Stonehenge” to make way for a DIY shop.

Olivier Lepick, mayor of Carnac in Brittany, western France, said he had received death threats after giving the green light to bulldoze around 40 “menhirs” thought to be 7,000 years old. The colossal rocks have been immortalised in the Asterix comic books.

He claims it was down to an “administrative error” as he hadn’t realised they were of archeological value.

The stones were up to 100cm tall and stood around 1.5km, or a mile, from the main Alignement de Carnac, a vast archaeological site that predates Stonehenge by 1,000 years and encompasses thousands of standing stones spread across 27 communes – one of the largest collections of their kind in the world.

The mayor granted the Mr. Bricolage DIY chain a building permit in August last year. Around 40 menhirs have since been razed.

(The destroyed stones)

Their destruction was revealed by local amateur archaeologist Christian Obeltz who railed against the move on his blog, later picked up in the local press.

Mayor Lepick admitted to being unaware that they were considered part of the heritage area, despite reportedly presiding over the group that is about to apply for Unesco World Heritage status for the 397 megalithic sites around Carnac.

Previous planning permission application rejected

According to Ouest France, an archaeological survey conducted in 2014 rejected previous planning permission as it could have impacted “elements of archaeological heritage.” However, it appears the stones were omitted from recently updated planning maps.

The builders also claimed they were unaware that the site was on the heritage map. “I’m not an archaeologist, I don’t know menhirs; low walls exist everywhere. If we’d known that, we’d obviously have done things differently”, Stéphane Doriel, in charge of the building operation, told Ouest France.

The mayor insisted he had “followed the law”, arguing that he was advised the site had “low archaeological value” given the objects found during checks before the construction process began.

The Regional Office of Cultural Affairs (Drac) for Brittany, which is responsible for ensuring the law protecting cultural monuments is respected, also played down the importance of the losses given the “non-major character of the remains”.

(Before the destruction)

But Mr Obeltz said local authorities failed to properly investigate. “There weren’t archaeological excavations in order to know if the stones were menhirs or not,” he said.

He also suggested that “elected officials in the area and the department are in a hurry to build up anything [around the archaeological area] because once it is classified with Unesco, it won’t be possible anymore.”

Politicians from across the board waded into the row.

“We’re witnessing a series of failings. The state no longer protects our fellow citizens or our heritage. Appalling,” said right-wing leader Marine Le Pen.

Right-wing politician Eric Zemmour, broadcast a video from the site in which he said “we destroy the past, and we plaster over it”.

(The site now)

“How could the town allow such a massacre to take place on the site of the megalithic alignments of Carnac, at a time when all Breton elected officials are mobilising to have them listed as a World Heritage Site?,” asked conservative Les Républicains MP Marc Le Fur, demanding a commission of inquiry. Two Breton pro-autonomy groups did likewise.

“Destroying thousand-year-old menhirs for a store. What better illustration of our madness?”, blasted feminist-ecologist MP Sandrine Rousseau.

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Carnac is renowned for its vast fields of stone megaliths which stand in long lines close to the Atlantic coast. There are around 3,000 of them on the two main protected areas which extend over more than four miles. The stones are thought to have had a sacred and funereal function, although various theories exist.

‘It’s as if I’ve destroyed the Mona Lisa’

With online fury snowballing, the mayor said he was the victim of a witch hunt.

“It’s as if I’ve destroyed the Mona Lisa. Everything is in place for me to get lynched,” he told Le Monde.

(The perpetrator, Mayor of Carnac, Olivier Lepick)

He said he and his family were under police protection.

“They threatened to burn my house,” the mayor told local press. “They threatened to kill me for being a traitor,” he added.

“One of my daughters, aged 20, even received messages targeting me on her personal Instagram account. I’m angry to see my wife and my children accused and threatened.”

Last weekend, vandals daubed a local church with the words “raze everything, like the menhirs.”

Le Monde said the furious media coverage had turned him overnight into “the most hated man in France”.

While acknowledging there had been “an administrative error”, the mayor said that “this slip-up was not the town’s fault”.

Last month, the French government unveiled a “security package” to protect officials after a worrying rise in the number coming under threat or attack around France.

Source: Telegraph