Story highlights 5 teens in custody; one says attack not anti-Semitic, prosecutor says

Prosecutor: About 250 headstones were overturned, columns uprooted

This is third time since 1988 cemetery was targeted, according to AFP

(CNN) Five teenagers are in custody after the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Sarre-Union, France, Saverne prosecutor Philippe Vanier said Monday.

The minors, all between the ages of 15 and 17, grew up in the Alsace region of France and have no criminal records. Police took the teens into custody after a 15-year-old turned himself in, saying he had damaged the cemetery with four other teenagers, the prosecutor said.

One of the teens denied the attack was anti-Semitic, Vanier said. The teens thought the graveyard was abandoned and didn't notice the graves were Jewish until after they had begun to vandalize them, the prosecutor said, recounting what one of the teens told police.

They are charged with desecration of graves and with organized damage on property for the public benefit, Vanier said. They each face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

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Though it wasn't noticed until the weekend, it appears the damage occurred late Thursday afternoon. About 250 graves were damaged, with most of the damage consisting of headstones being overturned and columns uprooted.

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