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A man who barricaded himself in a museum in France and warned armed cops in Arabic that “this will become a hell” has been arrested.

A major incident was declared after the man locked himself in the archeological museum in Saint Raphael, south France early this morning.

He had written a number of threatening Arabic words on the wall, visible to the public, including one which reads 'this will become a hell".

(Image: ©FrancisHuss / Twitter)

Armed police were scrambled to the scene at around 8am this morning but the man refused to surrender.

Police eventually managed to arrest the man but gave no more details.

A police source said: "‘The siege was brought to an end approaching 11.30’ said a police source on Wednesday morning.

"The suspect was discovered by a cleaning lady this morning. He had ripped his top off, and was shouting. The disturbing Arabic graffiti referred to the museum and hell.

(Image: ©FrancisHuss / Twitter)

"At one point the man was throwing stones out of the museum windows, especially when the police arrived."

The unnamed man – who is in his 20s – did not have any weapons, and there were no hostages.

The source added: "There is no indication of a terrorist motive, but the RAID were on hand to end the siege."

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office in nearby Draguignan said: "For the moment, the indications suggest someone with psychological problems."