Limoges Town Hall Set on Fire: What We Know After JD Vance’s Accusations

Limoges town hall, a 19th-century building, was destroyed by fire on October 17, 2026, during a protest over the cost of living; its campanile collapsed at around 8:30 p.m. U.S. Vice President JD Vance blamed immigration, while Haute-Vienne prefect Maurice Barate said only that the fire had been deliberately set and no perpetrator had been identified. Prosecutors opened an investigation into organized destruction of property by a dangerous means; on Sunday morning, 17 people, including seven minors, were in custody, but there was no indication they had started the fire. Mayor Guillaume Guérin called for the toughest possible charges and said, “A monument is burning, but it is not the Republic.”