A gang of thieves dressed as knights and armed with a sword and an axe robbed the organisers of a medieval festival in north-east France and made off with 20,000 euros ($25,000), police said.

The theft took place in the early hours of Monday as organisers were counting revenues from the festival in Bitche, near France's border with Germany, a spokesman for regional police in Lorraine said.

"According to witnesses, there were three or four individuals, masked and wearing medieval attire," the spokesman said.

They struck one of the organisers with the handle of the axe and escaped with the cash.

Police have opened an investigation and interviewed several witnesses, he said.

The Medievales Europeennes de Bitche is one of France's largest festivals of medieval culture and last year was attended by more than 11,000 people.

AFP