Paris - Dismay and anger were expressed in France Sunday after 148 graves at a military cemetery in the country's north were found to have been daubed overnight with anti-Islam slogans.

Some of the daubing at the Notre Dame de Lorette graveyard near Arras was directed at Justice Minister Rachida Dati, who is of North African origin, said local state prosecutor Jean-Pierre Valensi.

A pig's head had been hung on one of the graves, which stem from World War I. The graveyard had already seen 52 graves daubed with Nazi slogans a year previously.

The office of president Nicolas Sarkozy spoke of "quite intolerable racism" and "a despicable act" which insulted all soldiers of World War I, irrespective of their creed. (dpa)