Man drives into French presidential palace grill in protest

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

A car is towed away after an unidentified driver tried to ram through a gate of the presidential Elysee Palace, visible in background, Paris, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. AP Photo

An Italian man drove his car into the iron grills of a back entrance of the French presidential palace Thursday to protest against subsidy cuts for a Paris theatre he manages, police said.
 
The action was seen as largely symbolic since the man, who was not named, "only succeeded in lightly hitting the grills at slow speed," a police source said.
 
"He was immediately arrested and placed in custody," the source added.
 
Other police sources said the man, who runs a 100-seat theatre in the city's Montparnasse district, had staged another protest outside the presidential palace a few days ago, igniting the model of a harlequin.
 
He had also scattered leaflets on the road slamming a cut in subisidies for his theatre, La Comedie Italienne which stages classical and contemporary Italian works.
 
The man was released after questioning by police in the earlier incident.