Fire and Graffiti in the Middle of the Night: A Controversial Construction Site Targeted by Attacks in the Orne Department.
The proposed aggregate quarry project in Montreuil-au-Houlme, between Argentan and Flers (Orne), is causing tension. In mid-March 2026, the Regional Environmental Directorate ordered Socaorne, a subsidiary of the Thierry Pigeon Group, to halt tree cutting carried out outside the authorized period, which runs from September to October.
On Monday, April 20, one of the construction vehicles was set on fire in the middle of the night. In the wake of this, the company decided to remove its other vehicles from the site, especially since they are not actually permitted to clear away the stumps of the trees felled last month for several more months. Graffiti was found on the wall of a shed reading: “Leave the land alone. Get lost, Pigeon.” These incidents were discovered after the company had positioned its bulldozers there last week.