Some 500 people marched on Saturday afternoon through the western French town of Ploermel in protest against a planned giant statue of Pope John Paul II, police said.
The demonstrators came from across the area to the town square where a concrete and granite plinth had already been erected to take the eight-metre (25-foot) high bronze statue of the late pontiff. The plinth alone cost the municipality of Morbiban 8,000 euros (10,200 dollars) and a budget of 30,000 euros (38,500 dollars) has been allocated for the project initiated by the local mayor.
The banner at the front of the march read: "No to the John Paul II statue in Ploermel Square" and many demonstrators wore small red bonnets like the one worn by Marianne, a symbol of the French republic.
"Its abhorrent that public money is being used to erect a religious image in a public place," said Nicole Landurant a teacher who came from nearby Saint-Ave. She was motivated by "a secular conviction", she said, referring to the much-treasured French principle of separating church and state.
Mayor Paul Anselin recognised "the people's right to demonstrate".