Three Bulgarian citizens have been detained on suspicion of vandalizing the Holocaust Memorial in Paris in May, the State Agency for National Security (DANS) said on July 26.
Two of the Bulgarians were detained on July 25 in Bulgaria in a joint operation between DANS and the Interior Ministry. The third was detained in another EU country, the DANS said in a statement.
DANS said the detainees "gravitate around Bulgarian groups professing a far-right extremist ideology."
They are suspected of vandalizing the Holocaust Memorial by making 35 red palm prints on the monument. French authorities announced in May shortly after the graffiti appeared that it was investigating whether the desecration was coordinated by Russia.
DANS said Bulgarian law enforcement acted on a European arrest warrant issued on July 19 by French authorities into crimes, including participation in an organized criminal group and damage of property on ethnic, racial, and other grounds.
Investigators began tracking the Bulgarians in May when it identified three suspects who stayed in a hotel in Paris and then traveled to Belgium.
SEE ALSO: Moldovan Police Say Stars Of David Graffiti On Paris Buildings Ordered By Fugitive MagnateThe French prosecutor's office told RFE/RL that the reservations were made from Bulgaria.
Investigators are looking into whether the graffiti was ordered by the Russian security services after a similar act of vandalism in October carried out by two Moldovans, who admitted to painting Stars of David on properties in Paris.
France blamed a Russian disinformation campaign for amplifying the graffiti on social media. The Russian Embassy in Paris condemned what it said were "groundless attempts" to seek a Russian connection.
The red palms on the Holocaust Memorial were meant to symbolize bloodstained hands and refer to Israel's war against Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Britain.
The vandalization took place on May 14, months into the war that erupted in October after Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has sparked numerous protests in Western countries by pro-Palestinian groups who have drawn attention to the relatively high number of Palestinian deaths and the conditions of Palestinian refugees.
The Paris Holocaust Memorial is inscribed with the names of 3,900 men and women who helped save Jews from persecution during the World War II Nazi occupation of France.
Prosecutors are investigating damage to a protected historical building for national, ethnic, racial or religious motives. The penalty for the vandalism may be more severe if discrimination is proved.