Mayor Robert Ménard in front of the Nativity set that the government wants removed

The French government is a threatening a town with a fine of 2000 euros a day if it does not remove a Nativity set. According to one report from Valeurs:

2,000 euros per day late. This is the risk of the town of Béziers if it does not “withdraw within 48 hours the Nativity set  installed in the courtyard of the Hôtel de Ville,” reports Franceinfo . The prefecture of Herault seized the administrative court of Montpellier in early December for the immediate move of the Nativity set, which already last year, created a controversy.

But the mayor, Robert Ménard, persists. “The installation of such a Nativity set, on a temporary basis, at the initiative of a public person, in a public place, is only legally possible when it is of a cultural, artistic or festive nature, without expressing the recognition of a cult or mark a religious preference,” says the administrative court, quoted by the prefecture. Justice considers that even if the nursery is installed in the main courtyard, it “remains however in the enclosure of the public building which shelters the seat of the commune”.