Around 500 vials of COVID-19 jabs were destroyed in France after a vaccination centre near Toulouse was vandalised.

       The damage occurred overnight on Tuesday at a community hall in the southwestern town of Saint-Orens-de-Gameville.

       Mayor Dominique Faure told AFP that it was not yet possible to say if the damage was caused by anti-vaxxers.

       "It was a case of classic vandalism, tables and chairs were broken as well as two computer screens," she said, adding that the hall's alarm system had not worked.

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       Five hundred vials of vaccine were also destroyed on-site, according to a source close to the investigation.

       The town hall of Saint-Orens-de-Gameville has filed a complaint and Toulouse prosecutors have launched an investigation.

       The vaccination centre should resume its activities "before the end of the week", said Faure.

       The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, offered his support to the town on Twitter following the vandalism.

       "Disgusted by this new act of vandalism against a vaccination centre," Moudenc said, "the violence and intimidation must stop so that everyone can freely choose to be vaccinated."

       French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also "strongly condemned" the damage in a statement to AFP.

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       Last week, Darmanin called on local authorities to increase security at vaccination centres and pharmacies following a number of acts of vandalism.

       In July, an arson attack destroyed a tent housing a vaccination centre in the southern town of Urrugne, while another fire partially destroyed a centre in Gap in June.

       Several thousand people have been demonstrating in France every weekend against the new measures requiring a COVID-19 health certificate to enter bars, restaurants and places of culture.